Awakening Fluttershy's Dark Sky
by CloudMistDragon555
Summary: A dark sky is cast over all of Equestria after Fluttershy is murdered by an unknown force from the world beyond. Will you help Twilight Sparkle and her friends solve the mystery of her death, and then maybe...choose to see her come awake again?
1. Chapter 1

This story of Fluttershy's Dark Sky foretold the following prophecy...

 _The sky shall darken for the moon to turn bright_

 _And so, the stars shall come awake…_

Those who know the first story of Fluttershy's Dark Sky know this. In the tale's true ending, almost the entire population of Equestria was dead. Fluttershy was left a miserable pony, crying at a gravestone. But hope was not yet lost, for two gods, one who controlled reality, and another who controlled fantasy, took pity on her and the ponies of Equestria who had lost their lives. They were a curious bunch who enjoyed writing stories and making them become real. And though they had not the power to truly revive the dead, they found another way to make all of the world live again.

...How?

Those who know the stories of the transcending and the lightening of Fluttershy's Dark Sky know. There were some who were willing to die to themselves to give the dead another chance. In body, mind, and soul, they took the forms of all those who had died and Equestria was blessed with life once more. However, the two gods who brought these selfless souls to this world were not yet satisfied. To ensure that a tragedy such as what happened at the first tale's end would never come about again, they wrote yet another story, one that will make all of the world live again in a different sense...

In a dimension far away from Equestria, inside the room of a castle…

The reality god, a figure wearing a black robe was sitting on a chair by a table, levitating a quill dipped in ink that she was using to write something on a scroll. After writing for some time, the figure decided to pause for a brief moment and examine her environment. She was in a dark house. Alone.

...

...Perfect.

...

...Until another robed figure wearing a white robe entered the house...the fantasy god...

The reality god expressed astonishment as the scroll vanished before her eyes and was teleported into the hands of the figure who entered the house. The fantasy god promptly read and reviewed what the reality god had written…

"Oh no, this story will never do…" he said. "The plot is incomprehensible, the format is dreadfully disorganized, and the characters are terribly written. This story must be rewritten and revised from the start…the world deserves better!"

"Return that this instant!" the black-robed figure demanded. "That's not the story for the world! You know that we've already finished it! That's a document of my latest plan to change the universe…heh heh..."

The black-robed figure rubbed her hooves together snickering sinisterly, as the white-robed figure smiled, apparently catching on…

"My criticism still stands though." he said. "I still don't get your plot, I don't like the way you organized it, and the way you wrote these letters is just awful! I mean, look at these characters! Don't you know that no one likes Comic Sans?"

The reality god became bemused.

"...Get out of here." she finally said after a long moment of silence. "Keep the scroll too...thanks to you, I want to start over from scratch…"

The fantasy god gladly obeyed, walking into another room in the house laughing. However, right after he left, the reality god started preparing another scroll...with a smile on her face…

"I get to start over from the beginning...better than perfect…" she whispered.

 _A new type of plot…_

"Fluttershy…"

 _I know just what to do…_

"Fluttershy!"

 _I am going to recreate…_

"FLUTTERSHY!"

 _Awakening Fluttershy's Dark Sky_

"Oh… OH!" Fluttershy said as she awoke to find herself on a checkered blanket in a grassy field. She looked ahead of her to see the face of her good friend, Rarity.

"Are you feeling alright, dear?" Rarity asked in concern. "You were down for quite a snooze…"

"Oh, my head hurts…" Fluttershy replied, feeling nauseous. "Oh...MY STOMACH! Did I...eat something that made me sick?"

"That's a likely possibility, actually…" Rarity said normally before talking indignantly. "...Considering you ate EVERYTHING that I laid out for our picnic, including the special vegetarian chicken Discord prepared. ...For the record, I only included it in our luncheon because he INSISTED..."

"Huh, that's weird…" Fluttershy said to herself, puzzled. "I trust that Discord wouldn't poison vegan paste just for a prank. What could he have done?"

Just then, Fluttershy belched up a small, blue and white-striped headband. The sick and tired Fluttershy didn't notice it in a daze, but Rarity noticed that it looked like it was meant to be worn around the head of a chicken… Not wanting Fluttershy to get upset, she quickly hid it out of sight with her levitation magic.

"Oh…" Fluttershy groaned as she tried to get up. "I want to go home and rest, but I don't even feel like walking home…"

Rarity decided to overcome her annoyance and show Fluttershy some compassion.

"Here, let me give you a hoof." Rarity said as she walked over to Fluttershy, grabbed her right front leg, and got her to stand up. "My house is closer. Why don't we just go there for now? I'll prepare you a nice bed and some tea for when you get up. A good rest should soothe your stomach…"

 _Rest...yes…_

 _It is the basis of all natural balms. Only a fool neglects to sleep in his time of illness._

 _However Fluttershy...my plan requires for you to be awake...awake somewhere other than where you intend to be...haha…_

"Uh...UGH!" Fluttershy grunted as she felt a piercing pain in her head that awoke her from her slumber.

"Wait, wh-what…" she said as she examined her surroundings. She was lying in bed in the guest room on the second floor of Rarity's house. She had recovered from her stomachache, but what had happened before she came here, she could barely recall.

"That's right…" she said to herself, reflecting on what she could vaguely remember. "Rarity offered to let me stay here to rest off my stomachache. That was nice of her, but...did I agree to come here? Everything just happened so fast…"

 _Don't worry dear Fluttershy, I'm not feeling the need to rush this...although I will skip ahead to the climax of this chapter…_

Suddenly, a very loud roar of thunder could be heard from outside, followed by a flash that could be seen through the guest room window. Fluttershy gave out a meek "EEK!" as she hid under the bedsheets and began shaking in startlement. Soon after, Fluttershy began to hear faint drops of rain coming down from outside.

"Celestia darn it…" Fluttershy said in slight frustration. "I need to get home before the rain starts coming down really bad. Who knows how long I've been sleeping? Angel is probably worried sick. I have to tell Rarity..."

Hurrying down the stairs, Fluttershy arrived in Rarity's living room. She looked around, but saw no sign of Rarity…

...Where was she?

While pondering this, Fluttershy picked up a familiar scent from the nearby dining room and looked into it out of curiosity. On the dining table, she discovered the source of the scent...two cups of green tea placed on a tray.

"Odd…" Fluttershy thought. "Green tea doesn't usually have a scent...is it flavored? Or did Rarity do something special with it?"

Still curious, Fluttershy walked into the dining room. She grabbed one of the teacups and noticed something else that was peculiar as she took a sip of it...the green tea was at the perfect temperature for being drunk.

"This is REALLY odd…" Fluttershy thought again. "I remember Rarity saying she would make me tea, but...how could she have known EXACTLY when to make it? She couldn't have known exactly when I was going to get up…"

It wasn't long though before Fluttershy decided to assume this to be coincidence. After all, it's not like Rarity was a psycho who would put poison in the tea…

 _...this Rarity anyways. Heh heh._

Fluttershy began to drink more out of the teacup that she grabbed, eventually drinking all of it. Not bad.

"That was pretty good," lauded Fluttershy, "but what now?"

 _Forgetting something?_

Fluttershy put the teacup back on the tray and looked ahead of her. Right in front of her, was a ninja dressed in a black outfit that covered all of their body with the exception of their red eyes.

"Now…" the ninja said robotically, pulling a katana out of a sheath on their back. "You take a nap."

"Oh." Fluttershy replied. "Wait…"

Before Fluttershy could continue, the ninja took the blade in their right front leg and thrust it into Fluttershy's heart. As the ninja did so, a card fell out of a pocket of their ninja outfit. The last thing Fluttershy did before she had been stabbed was grab the ninja's mask. As she fell to the floor, the mask came off the ninja's face. Upon seeing the ninja's face, Fluttershy was filled with grief.

"No…" Fluttershy said as a tear rolled out of her left eye. "You're not…"

With those words, Fluttershy's flame flickered out. A pool of blood formed below her body. The ninja vanished without a trace, and soon after, a dark robed figure came over Fluttershy's body. She gave a sinister grin as she pulled her soul out of it...

 _MISSION ACCOMPLISHED_

Back at the dark house from the beginning, a figure wearing a black garb could be seen writing on a scroll with an ink-dipped quill that she was levitating with magic. The reality god was watching her with a smile on their face.

"Phase One concluded." the figure said as s/he finished writing. "The subject has been terminated. Have I done well, my superior?"

"Fabulous work…" the reality god commented as she walked over to her subordinate, picked up the scroll with levitation magic and read it. "The God of Life will be most pleased. Your role in the story shall be a great one. Now the next phase of your mission, where you shall supervise the subordinates of the God of Life under the title of Boss, acting as this story's lead writer in our stead, can begin."

"Oh ho, not just yet…" the subordinate replied with a chuckle. "You know what I need…"

The reality god gave a sinister grin as she tore the end of the scroll off with their magic and gave it to their subordinate.

"Thank you…" the subordinate said, taking the paper with magic and giving an equally sinister grin as they flipped it over and read the back of it. "I know just what I'm going to do with this. Oh, it will be some experience watching the one closest to me slowly spiral into insanity…"

"I'm sure you will." the reality god replied. "Oh, and you can keep my garb and sword for a little while longer. Just make sure your character isn't seen wearing them…"

With that, the subordinate walked to the exit of the house with the paper in the magic of their horn, laughing as they passed by another figure dressed in a red coat, who gave her a look that displayed no emotion…

Meanwhile, at Twilight Sparkle's residence…

The morning after Fluttershy's death, Twilight was in her library browsing for a book to read.

"R, E, A, D, A, B, O, okay!" she exclaimed as she decided what book she wanted to read and pulled it out with her levitation magic.

"Read a book! Read a book!" she chanted as she took the book over to her desk and sat down, opening up the book and flipping through it. "Read a mo-WAAAH!"

Twilight suddenly yelled in surprise when without warning, a white pillar of magical light erected from one of the book's pages. Twilight put her right front leg in front of her face to shield herself from the light until the pillar vanished, leaving behind a piece of torn scroll paper that, while replacing the page, still showed signs of being torn off of something else.

"What...what is this?" Twilight asked as her shock turned to curiosity, and began reading what was on the scroll paper.

On the bottom of the page, the writing on the scroll paper said as such…

"Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie...and Starcatch…

I'll recreate them..."

"No...this can't be true!" Twilight yelled. "This is pure insanity!"

Spooked, but feeling inclined to know more, Twilight turned the page on the back, which said this…

"The age of mortal life is over. Innocent blood has been shed so that mortals may become fused with undecaying demons and machines. For this is the will of the one who has risen from the dead…"

"Where did this come from?!" Twilight shouted in horror. "Wh-WUAGH!"

Twilight cried as she felt a demonic aura exude from her body...when she had turned the page on its back, she had felt something evil come over her, something that would begin to torture her mind and stain her soul black…

…

It all took place on the same day...yet to Twilight, it felt like two years had gone by as only several hours went by…

 _So that's who I really am, ha ha ha...their servant, huh? Sure, I'll play the act..._

In the afternoon…

Spike was walking towards Twilight's bedroom with a note in his hands that he looked upon with despondence. When he arrived at Twilight's bedroom, he knocked on her door.

"Twilight?" Spike called. "Twilight, are you in there?"

Getting no answer, Spike decided to open the door and go inside.

"Twilight?" he called again. "Have you...been here since this morning?"

Seeing that Twilight was sleeping in her bed when he entered her room, he walked over to her, hopped onto her bed, and began attempting to shake her awake.

"Twilight, I'm sorry to wake you, but you have to get up, it's urgent."

"What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked solemnly, having not yet overcome what had happened to her that morning. "I've not been feeling well...just please tell me now, and I'll take care of it later…"

Spike became teary-eyed as he gripped the note and soon mustered the strength to say what he knew he had to say…

"Fluttershy is dead." he spoke.

And with those words, Twilight awakened from her slumber…

 _The madness begins…_

Conclusion of Part One.

"That's the end of the first part!" Boss exclaimed. "So, what do you guys think so far?"

Boss looked over to the audience, consisting of the Dark Sky members, Dumb-bell, Hoops, Score, Ghost Rainbow Dash, and Derpy. Disregarding Derpy, none of them looked amused.

"Eh...it was okay." Dumb-bell said.

"I got kind of bored to be honest." Hoops spoke his mind. "A lot of it was just talking and exposition."

"..." Score silently gave an elaborate critique.

"In one word, BORING." G.R.D. gave a simple review. "In two words, FUCKING boring. I would also like to point out that MAJOR inconsistency of Fluttershy needing to be home for Angel and then being like "DURR NOW WHAT". Quality writing, mwuh."

"I actually really enjoyed it!" Derpy exclaimed happily. "My favorite parts were when Fluttershy ate the chicken and Twilight read a book!"

"Glad you all loved it!" Boss said cheerfully. "Also, check this out!"

 _Fluttershy _ _ hit _ _ _ _ _ Hawaiian __

"What the hell?" Derpy said in confusion. "Fluttershy is popular in Hawaii?"

"It's a riddle, genius." Boss explained. "If you solve it, you will unveil a key plot point of the story…"

"Oh please," said G.R.D. cynically, "the only riddle around here is how you always fail to entertain us no matter what you do."

"Just like your leader…" Boss replied with a smile. "You're too kind…"


	2. Chapter 2

Two days after Twilight Sparkle learned of Fluttershy's death, a funeral was held to commemorate her. Twilight and all of her friends came…

...all of them but one…

Rarity.

"Rarity didn't show up…" an upset Twilight said in her mind. "Discord isn't here either...is this for real?!"

It was the afternoon, and some of Equestria's residents had gathered at a burial site dressed in black clothing. A service leader was standing on a podium preparing to speak a eulogy. Adjacent to the leader from the side was an open coffin containing Fluttershy's body and in front of the leader were three rows of metal folding chairs, with fifteen in each row. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike were sitting in the front row. All of the other attendants were sitting in either the middle or the back, and both were mostly full. No one else wanted to sit up front despite there being ten open seats, and most of them were either looking at their phones with looks of boredom or whispering to each other and chuckling. Twilight took notice and became more displeased than ever. And unfortunately, "ever" wasn't even going to be the end of it…take a guess who was leading the service?

"We are gathered here today," said Tree Hugger, "to honor the memory of a rocking dude named Fluttershy. Often afraid to stare life in the face, but never afraid to stare death in the face, Fluttershy truly was an inspiration to us all."

"...Amen?" said one guy amongst a confused crowd.

One guy with his phone began using it to record this...

"For many of us," continued Tree Hugger, "this is a day of sadness. But for Fluttershy, let us hope that this will be a day of happiness. May the gods of nature reincarnate her as an owl to watch over us while we sleep."

"Flutterowl?" Pinkie Pie thought.

"What in Celestia's name is going on here?" Twilight asked.

"And while I'm sure that none of us consent to their union," commented Tree Hugger, "we must accept that Fluttershy's body and the soil will become one. That's your cue, my electro soul brother."

Take a guess who was in charge of the musical arrangements? Vinyl Scratch was on her DJ machina spinning a sinful beat, her own dubstep remix of Here Comes the Bride, yo. Multi-colored lights were beaming everywhere as Vinyl and Tree got down to the beat. Ponies in the middle and back row began grooving to it too, and Twilight and her friends were left astonished.

"The shit in the hay?" Applejack said.

"I don't get it." Rainbow Dash remarked. "Did Fluttershy have some kind of request for everyone to come to her funeral stoned?"

"This is a disgrace…" Twilight said with a growl of anger. "Are they TRYING to mock her?"

As soon as the music stopped playing, the dancing ponies all sat back down...and the ones who had been looking at their phones and talking immediately resumed doing so. Twilight was about ready to blow her stack.

"These bastards…" Twilight muttered under breath, grinding her teeth. "Selfish, uncaring, cold-hearted…"

It was then that Pinkie Pie noticed that Twilight had a red aura glowing around her. Unsurprisingly, Pinkie could feel that it was an aura of anger and hatred. Not only that, Pinkie saw that Twilight's teeth had become sharp and jagged...what was happening to her?

 _It's very simple, really. The magic of the page combined with the power of her negative emotions is bringing out her inner demon. The first step towards insanity is submitting to your inner demon…_

 _At least that's how I see it._

"Moving on," said Tree, preparing to end the speech, "would anyone like to say a few words to the groom? Speak now, so that forever we may leave Fluttershy in peace."

Twilight's red aura subsided and her teeth went back to normal as she and her friends walked over to Fluttershy's open coffin, ready to say goodbye to their fallen comrade.

"I wish I had gotten to know you better…" Spike said, hopping on Fluttershy's corpse, looking at her face and rubbing it lightly with his left hand while crying. "I really did like you. I hope that you're happy, wherever you are now."

"I should've spent more time with ya…" Applejack said regretfully, coming close to Fluttershy after Spike hopped off of her. "You were one of the sweetest ponies I'd ever known…"

Applejack grabbed Fluttershy's right front leg and gripped it as a sign of respect.

"Take care, y'hear?"

Next, Rainbow Dash flew over to Fluttershy and began to caress her left wing with a crestfallen look on her face.

"Some time…" she said. "I...wanted to teach you how to fly really well. I think you could've been great. I would've loved for us to have flown together side by side, with both of us soaring through the skies amazingly..."

Dash grabbed Fluttershy's left front leg out of respect just like Applejack did.

"I'll see you again some day, champ."

Twilight Sparkle came over to Fluttershy after her, but unlike the other three, she said nothing. With her magic, she lifted both of her front legs up and slid a note written on a piece of paper ripped from a familiar book under her front legs as she lifted them back down. She then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Finally, Pinkie Pie walked over to Fluttershy...with a cake in hoof. It was yellow with pink frosting and icing.

"Fluttershy…" Pinkie said with a sob. "I'm sorry you didn't get the chance to have more birthday parties. To make it up to you...I made you this cake. Please, never stop smiling…"

Pinkie put the cake on top of Fluttershy's front legs, having not noticed Twilight put the note under there. Twilight, however, saw Pinkie put the cake on Fluttershy and came over to Pinkie with a frustrated look on her face.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?" Twilight asked. "You can't just leave a cake on top of Fluttershy's body, they're not going to bury her with a cake!"

"Bury her with it?" Pinkie responded. "What do you mean? It's not for her to be buried with, it's for her to eat!"

Twilight facehoofed.

"Are you serious?" she said. "She obviously can't eat it!"

"Why?" Pinkie asked, honestly confused. "Is Fluttershy on a diet?"

In response, Twilight just gave her a look that said, "This conversation is not happening…"

"I...think what Twilight means," said Applejack, "Pinkie, is that Fluttershy can't eat the cake because she's in heaven now."

"So she's not an owl…" Pinkie said, giving Tree Hugger a suspicious look before she turned back to the cake and began thinking. "Well, I know you wouldn't lie to me. Does cake go to heaven?"

"Uh…" Applejack replied, pausing while turning her head the other way. "Yeah?"

"I see…" Pinkie said as she pulled out a long cake knife from a random and unknown place. "Then I'm very sorry cake, but it's for the best…"

"Wait...what in tarnation are you doing?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie didn't answer. She put her left hoof on Fluttershy's stomach to gather her strength and took the knife in her right hoof…

"PINKIE, NO!" Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow called out.

It was too late though. Pinkie stabbed the cake. In her swift might, she unintentionally caused the knife to go far further than just through the cake, piercing the note and Fluttershy through her front legs and chest...and the bottom of the coffin.

"Whoops…" Pinkie said as she saw what she had done. "I forgot my own strength. Sorry Fluttershy."

Everypony was speechless. After a while, a lot of ponies in the crowd began laughing at the dark irony of it all. The one who had been recording everything was very satisfied with the footage he had captured. The laughing echoed in Twilight's ears, and looking back at the crowd, Twilight began to cry.

"Everyone is laughing at my friend dying…" Twilight told herself in her mind. "A friend of mine being torn away from me...is just a joke to them…"

Spike, Applejack, and Rainbow tried to comfort Twilight while Pinkie looked upon the scene with a feeling of guilt. Unbeknownst to her, blood trickling from Fluttershy's body had caused the note Twilight had left for Fluttershy not to become illegible...but to become more durable. Even the cake frosting couldn't damage the note or make the writing on it unreadable. On the note, it said this…

 _Tree Hugger shall see the Goddess of Death before she begins to gather her four souls._

"Huh?" Tree Hugger suddenly said as she saw an unfamiliar figure wearing a black robe with a hoodie that covered their face standing in front of her. "Who...who is that?"

"Who's who, Brother Blue?" Vinyl asked.

"So you don't see him…" Tree replied. "But I don't just see him...I can feel Fluttershy's essence coming from him! She didn't become an owl after all...she's…"

 _Yeah, I feel this a good place to stop for now. In the meantime, let's go somewhere where it will be a good place to start for now…_

The night before the day of the funeral, at Princess Celestia's castle…

Inside Celestia's castle, Celestia was in her bedchamber sleeping. Two armored guards wielding spears were minding the door of her bedchamber when suddenly, they were approached by a mysterious figure with purple hair styled to stick up. He was a ninja wearing a black garb, a cape that was white on the back side and purple on the other side, and a white bandana around his mouth. He was also brandishing a katana with the initials, "E.M.", engraved on the hilt in his left front leg and a silver claw on his right front leg. Seeing the unfamiliar ninja figure, the guards readied their spears and prepared to interrogate him.

"Halt!" the guards declared. "Who goes there?"

Just then, the ninja vanished, leaving the guards surprised and puzzled.

"Who goes where?" the ninja suddenly said as he appeared behind the guards and wrapped his right front leg around their throats and put them up against his body, causing their helms to fall off. The guards struggled to break free, but alas, it was in vain. The ninja's strength was insanely powerful. The ninja then put his katana up to both of their throats.

"Scream…" the ninja told them. "Call to Princess Celestia for help as loud as you can or I'll kill both of you."

It was soon that the princess of the sun was awoken from her slumber by "YOUR MAJESTY!" being called by the guards followed by sounds of them both getting smacked on the head and a loud beaming noise.

"?!" Celestia had an expression of shock on her face when she woke up. "What's going on?!"

Getting out of bed, opening her bedroom door, and entering the hallway, she saw exactly what was going on...the ninja had opened a portal to another dimension. The two guards laid knocked out alongside their helms beside the swirling white vortex.

"What did you do to my men?!" Celestia asked the ninja angrily. "How did you break in here? Who are you?"

"Aah, questions." the ninja replied. "Whenever someone sees a sight like this, they always ask questions...not realizing that finding out the answers shouldn't always be their number one priority."

"Don't play mind games with me…" Celestia demanded as her horn lit up and she pointed it at the figure. "Explain yourself this instant before I hurt you!"

"Woah, don't hurt me, baby." the ninja taunted. "I'm only prepared to die for a cause."

"Cause?" Celestia asked, finding it hard to take this guy seriously. "Since you seem to enjoy joking around, would you please kindly humor me by telling me about your greater motive?"

"Heh," chuckled the ninja, "I normally hate answering questions, but since you asked nicely, I'll at least explain my regular motive...I've come from an immortal world...to do my part in the plan my superiors have devised to recreate this world and end the age of mortal life."

"How despicable…" Celestia berated. "I suppose your greater motive is to have your detestable superiors promote you to their number one bitch boy once they've destroyed us all."

"And this is why I hate answering questions…" the ninja said as he sighed and put his left hoof on his face. "They always get the wrong idea…"

"Wrong idea?" Celestia asked.

"I wonder what you would think…" the ninja said. "If I told you that both my superiors and I were once mortal…"

"What?" Celestia replied.

"I also wonder what you would think if I told you that Fluttershy has been put down for a nap…" the ninja said humanistically. "Her soul has been taken by The Goddess of Death. If you ever want to see her wake up again, you'll do as I say. If you help me, your work won't go unrewarded. I'll tell you about who you really are...and about your half-daughter and son..."

From out of the portal the ninja created, a familiar pony in a red coat came out...

"..." Celestia had no idea how to respond.

 _Or maybe she did? Anyways, that's another story for now. Let's get back to Twilight and friends…actually, just her friends for now…_

That same night the castle was invaded…

Each one of Twilight's friends was having a dream. Uncannily enough, they were all somehow having the same dream. It was about being a human man who was looking at two gods talking to another human man. This is how they would describe poetically how the dream went…

 _Is This Dream a Story?_

 _A man...is this who I am?_

 _No...Twilight Sparkle's friend is who I am._

 _I am part of no sham._

 _This man I see must be of flim-flam._

 _He speaks to two gods._

 _A friend and a former enemy are these two gods._

 _But they must be frauds._

 _They talk like sausages, they talk like clods._

 _This man and his gods are so fake._

 _Everything about them and their words on plain paper is fake._

 _Nothing beautiful they can make._

 _My precious time, they only take._

 _I know the gods, but not the man._

 _One god is good, the other was evil, but who is the man?_

 _I judge the gods as false because I know them, but I judge the man as false even though…_

 _...I know not his plan. But…_

 _...I know not what he began. However…_

 _I think he's just dreaming. But I worry…_

 _Does he mean to begin a true story?_

 _I can not judge if it's a good story. But I wonder…_

 _Is the story for me?_

Twilight's friends couldn't sleep after having such a dream. It felt like deja vu to them. They didn't know the man, but they could feel what he had been through. They could feel that he was undecided on what to do with what he had been told. His struggle felt human to them. They could relate, for they were also confused. They wanted to believe that Fluttershy was living on inside of them even after her death...but was that just a dream? Or were they beginning a great story for themselves that was real?

The only thing that kept them comfort in thoughts like these was an aura that each of them felt around themselves. A pleasant aura that they had felt for as long as they could remember. An aura that felt like the pure will of another...

 _Wow, what a mystery. Well this is when anyone would just forget what they just read and move on. But do you at least want a clue to what it all means? Who is the man? Here's a hint…_

" _Twilight's friends each dreamt of themselves viewing a memory from the past as a different man. But the man's conflict of indecision is of every man."_

 _Now then, let's see what's going on with Twilight, hmm?_

Later on in the evening of the day of the funeral, several hours after it had concluded...

Twilight Sparkle was in her bedroom, brooding on her bed with a phone lying beside her. Eventually, a nervous-looking Spike came into her room, carrying a cup of coffee on a plate.

"Are you feeling okay, Twilight?" Spike asked as he walked up to Twilight. "I brought you that cup of coffee you wanted."

"Thank you Spike." Twilight replied with gratitude, levitating the coffee on top of a short dresser nearby. "I just have...so much on my mind right now. I don't think I've ever felt this sad...and angry…"

Spike then gulped and began to sweat. Twilight took notice…

"What's wrong?" she asked sternly.

Spike gulped again. He hated having to be the messenger for things like this, but once again, he was able to pluck up the courage to tell her…

"Pinkie Pie's here." he said. "She's in the living room right now...she wants to apologize for what happened at the funeral."

Twilight didn't say anything in response. She just put on an angry look, picked up the phone with her levitation magic and stormed out of her bedroom, her red aura and fangs reappearing. Walking through the castle while stomping her hooves and breathing heavily, she soon arrived at the living room and flung open the door. There, she saw Pinkie Pie sitting on a couch by a TV, looking down at the carpet on the floor and thinking.

"Hi Twilight…" Pinkie greeted her, feeling nervous as she felt Twilight's aura of anger and hate again. "Please forgive me for what I did...it was an accident. I didn't mean to stab Fluttershy. I didn't mean to make a scene…"

Twilight shook her head.

"No…" she replied. "Fuck you."

"W-what?" Pinkie said.

Twilight came closer to Pinkie and showed her what was on the screen of the phone...it was a video on Youtube entitled "Pinkie Pie Kills Fluttershy at Her Funeral". It had been uploaded by the guy who had been recording the funeral with his phone, and it had 500,000 likes, 15,000 dislikes, and 5,000,006 views...at least in Twilight's imagination.

 _*Talking in a nasally "nerd" voice* The actual statistics are 500 likes, 150 dislikes, and 5,006 views. *End voice* Twilight is just imagining the statistics in her insanity by the way, not the video._

"I SAID…" Twilight fumed. "FUCK YOU!"

Twilight then punched Pinkie Pie in the left cheek. Pinkie fell on the floor and spit up some blood.

"Ow...agh…" Pinkie grunted in pain, feeling her cheek as tears came out of her eyes. "UNNGH!"

Pinkie grunted again as Twilight shoved the phone into her face.

"WHAT IS THIS…" Twilight said.

"Ugh…" Pinkie whimpered.

"DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!" Twilight bellowed.

"UGAH!" Pinkie cried.

"SHUT UP!" Twilight yelled. "Thanks to you, EVERYONE in Equestria is laughing at Fluttershy's death! Five million is ten times the Equestrian population! You're the one to blame for them all becoming Youtube commenters! How can I forgive you after just a simple apology?!"

Twilight started hyperventilating, and soon, started to look at herself. Her red aura was growing brighter, her front legs were starting to turn black and scalish, and her front hooves were starting to become black claws. She turned to Pinkie again and began smiling sinisterly while thinking violent thoughts…

"Yes…" she said to herself in a demonic voice as she picked Pinkie Pie up and clutched her front legs with her claws. "Maybe that punch wasn't enough...maybe...I need to teach you some real pain…"

Twilight wondered what to do…in her newfound demonic nature, she wanted to seriously hurt Pinkie, but in her good nature, she knew what she was doing was wrong...what to do...

 _Looks like Twilight is having a little trouble making up her mind...could you be a dear and help her make the right decision?_

 **Explanation on Decisions**

At certain key points of the story, a character, or sometimes characters, will be caught in a dilemma and forced to make a possibly crucial decision. When this happens, just go to the chapter or appropriate section of the chapter that corresponds to your choice of how you want the decision to be made.

Ex: _B._ _Let her go and apologize_

You want Twilight to _Let her go and apologize_. Simply read what happens in the "B. _Let her go and apologize"_ subchapter or scroll down to the appropriate section in the main chapter if there is no choice subchapter. Don't even bother looking at any other choice-related subchapters in that selection.

Each choice subchapter/section is basically just an alternate way for the next event in the story to happen, however, each subchapter/section may give you interactions with different characters and/or may tell you things you never knew. Also, much later on, there will be a point where the decisions _will_ ultimately affect the story. Please choose wisely...or foolishly if you enjoy messing things up.

Now then, where were we…

Decision #1: What should Twilight do with Pinkie Pie?

 _A. Unleash demon wrath upon her…_

 _B. Let her go and apologize_

Conclusion of Part Two.

"That's the end of the second part!" Boss announced. "So, are you guys hooked yet?"

The Dark Sky members still weren't that impressed, with the exception of Derpy…

"It was a little more enjoyable than the opening part," said Dumb-bell, "but still, it was mostly just okay."

"Sorry, I still don't like this story much…" Hoops said. "I appreciate that it's trying to be creative and different from what came before it, but it just doesn't grab me."

"..." Score predicted the future of Boss' project silently.

"Boring AND lame." Ghost Rainbow Dash gave it straight. "I completely agree with Score's prediction. This is TOTALLY going to turn into a cliche supernatural drama story that everyone is going to praise because it's "SO ELABORATE AND WELL-WRITTEN", when really, they're just so blinded by the length of it that they completely overlook the gaping plotholes, pretentious writing style, and how shallow and grating the characters are. Oh yeah, and that scene with Fluttershy's funeral was terribly mean-spirited and unfunny. *spits* Blow me."

"I just don't know what's wrong with this story!" Derpy proclaimed. "It's a supernatural mystery, and a really entertaining one at that!"

"Glad you all loved it!" Boss exclaimed again. "And I did not make supernatural drama, I just wanted to make an original mystery for the world that could be read like a story. Also, I haven't forgotten about the riddle..."

 _Fluttershy _ hit _ _ _ _ _ Hawaiian __

 _Clue #1:_ called again


	3. Chapter 2-A Unleash demon wrath upon her

"Yes…" Twilight said demonically, licking her lips and wearing an evil smile. "You must not be forgiven...until I've tasted your blood…"

And with that, Twilight clutched Pinkie's front legs as hard as she could and sunk her claws into her flesh, ripping open her skin. Pinkie writhed in pain, screaming as blood dripped down from her front legs and onto Twilight's tongue.

"Oh, that's good…" Twilight said happily, enjoying every drop. "Your suffering is curing my sorrow, quelling my anger...but it's strange. I'm happy, yet somehow not content. I feel like I need to hurt you more."

Upon hearing that, Pinkie's mane began going down and a red aura started appearing around her body too.

"In fact," continued Twilight, "I feel I should hurt everyone who has dared to laugh at me in my time of need…"

With that, Pinkie's red aura grew as bright as Twilight's and with a demonic growl, she kicked Twilight in the face with her right back leg and busted her nose. Feeling a burning sensation, Twilight let Pinkie go and covered her nose with her right front legs. Recovering from the pain, her wound healing much faster as a demon, she soon pulled her legs away from her face and saw...pink cake frosting with steam coming out of it on her claws. Turning her attention to Pinkie Pie, she was shocked to see that her flesh had become just the same...pink cake frosting.

"You know," said Pinkie in a demonic voice, "even though it awakened my demonic aura, what you did to me actually didn't sting too badly. That's not the first time I've been devil's food. However, the knowledge of you wanting to hurt others...that left me STEAMING. You better stop this shit right now or I will make you stop it the hard way. You have to learn that you can't act like this..."

"BLOW OFF, "TEACHER"!" Twilight shouted as she slashed Pinkie across the face.

Following the slash, bits of cake frosting went on the carpet. Pinkie was left with scratches on her face, but with crumbs of cake bread visible in the scratches instead of blood. After wiping her left front leg that was dripping cake frosting across her face, her scratches were healed. Twilight was astonished.

"No way…" she thought. "Not only can she become a demon too...but her form is different...MUCH different."

"Teacher, huh?" Pinkie finally replied. "Then I guess it's my job to teach you a lesson. Just don't expect it to be on home economics!"

Pinkie swiped the air using her left front leg to fling hot cake frosting at Twilight Sparkle's face. Twilight ducked, rushed towards Pinkie Pie, and kicked her in the stomach with as much force as she could muster. Pinkie was thrown back against the couch, which was flipped over on its back. Pinkie picked herself up though, along with the couch. She then leaped up in the air and spun around, spreading small globs of intensely hot cake frosting in the air that acted as homing missiles. Guided down towards Twilight, Twilight tried to dodge by jumping in the air at the last second, but failed. All the globs hit her in mid-jump, but not the pain from the force of the blows nor the pain from the searing heat of the cake frosting was enough to bring Twilight down to the ground. She became enraged as she shook the cake frosting off her demon skin, and opened up her wings. She then flew towards Pinkie and grabbed her by the stomach...

Meanwhile, a worried Spike was still upstairs in Twilight's bedroom, sitting on her bed and snacking on a donut to try and calm his nerves. Just then, the bedroom door was busted wide open. The hinges broke and it fell to the ground with a loud, resounding bang. Scared out of his wits, Spike dropped his donut and hid under the covers of Twilight's bed.

 _Ha ha, you scaredycat. Don't you remember?_

"Oh yeah," said Spike in realization as he came out from under the covers and picked his donut up, "that happens every now and then. For a sec-"

Not even a sec later, Pinkie Pie fell through the roof, landing right on top of Spike with her rear and sandwiching him between her cheeks of cake frosting and his donut. Whatever had once held up the bed was broken now and a hole had been made through the roof. Through the roof's hole, Twilight could be seen flapping her wings, eyeing her right claw with a menacing grin.

"Get ready, you wet, sugar-coated bread sack…" Twilight taunted Pinkie. "I'm going to cut your face so bad this time it'll leave a permanent scar…"

Twilight then flew down through the hole, slashed Pinkie across the face with all her might and landed on the floor close to the wall in front of the bed. Huge chunks of frosting went everywhere. Pinkie felt great pain from the slash...but she didn't scream. Wiping her face with her left front leg again, she could only halfway fill the wounds, but she still didn't make a sound.

"WH-WHY AREN'T YOU HOLLERING IN AGONY?!" Twilight shouted, her full focus on Pinkie.

Pinkie didn't respond.

"ANSWER ME!" Twilight yelled as she came closer to the bed. "OR I'LL HURT…"

Twilight paused when she saw that Pinkie was looking down sadly at Spike...who had been flattened like a classic cartoon character and had burns on his face from being under the heated frosting.

 _...What? Would you prefer for him to be dead?_

Having fainted from what had happened so suddenly, Spike had not witnessed too much, but Twilight and Pinkie knew that they had still gone too far. After Pinkie inflated Spike back to his normal state like a classic cartoon character, Twilight decided to say something.

"How…?" Twilight asked as concern began to replace her rage. "How did that happen?"

"It happened because of us…" Pinkie replied. "This is part of the price that comes with demonic power...even those we don't aim our hatred at suffer...do you still feel the drive to hurt?"

Twilight knew the answer to that question as she changed back into a pony involuntarily, her rage needed to activate and maintain her transformation having subsided. Pinkie, however, changed back voluntarily.

"I know how to control my powers," explained Pinkie as she walked over to the short dresser and looked at the coffee cup and plate that was still on top of it, "but only because of time, patience, and help from a dear loved one. I've had them for quite some time, and it took a while before I learned how to use them for good."

"Quite some time?" Twilight asked. "You couldn't have had them that long...right?"

With her back turned to Twilight, Pinkie picked up the coffee cup and held her left hoof over it. The coffee in the cup shook, and Pinkie turned around and faced Twilight.

"You don't think I was able to plan such elaborate parties and do all the other crazy stuff I've done without some kind of otherworldly power, do you?" Pinkie replied. "I can also sense the aura of others. I felt Spike's aura when he had been crushed underneath me, and I can tell you, he wasn't just unnerved because of the fear and shock. Even after he fainted, I could feel that his aura was one of sadness. But he's not just sad because of what's happened to Fluttershy. He's also sad because he's worried that something might happen to you, seeing how depressed you've been...like you dying not just bodily, but spiritually too…"

Tears flowed from Twilight's eyes. Pinkie put the coffee cup back on the plate on the dresser to allow Twilight to give her a hug.

"I'm so sorry Pinkie…" Twilight said wholeheartedly. "I didn't even realize what I was becoming…I promise I'll never try to hurt you or anyone out of malice ever again."

"It's alright Twilight…" Pinkie told her with a smile. "I forgive you. And I trust in your promise too. I know full well that you're not a demon at heart. I've known from the beginning that you have a heart of purity and light. Literally! I've seen it before!"

At first, Twilight was slightly confused by that last bit, hoping she wasn't being sarcastic. It wasn't long though before she realized that that was just Pinkie being Pinkie in trying to cheer her up and smiled.

"Glad to see you smile again, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed as her mane reinflated. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to Rarity's house and try to invite her to lunch at Sugarcube Corner again! She's been turning me down a lot recently for some reason."

After Pinkie left though, Twilight's smile quickly faded as she used her magic to teleport to her library, where she got out the book the torn page had appeared in, now shown to be a black book with a white star on it, and flipped to a section of said book…

"I knew it…" Twilight said as she read the page. "This is for real…"

Twilight then teleported the coffee from her bedroom to her, and began to drink it ominously...until she realized that it was better than she had expected it to be.

"Hey, hazelnut." she remarked, regaining her smile. "I've got to give Spike credit, he knows how to prepare this stuff."

 _Hey, thank Pinkie Pie as well. She made the coffee cake. Thank Pinkie's sister too, she showed her how to make it for a special occasion..._

Conclusion of Chapter 2-A.


	4. Chapter 2-B Let her go and apologize

"No...I can't do this…" Twilight told herself in thought, putting Pinkie down on the couch and letting her go. "I don't care how mad I am, this just isn't right…"

Feeling bad about punching Pinkie too, Twilight became overwhelmed with regret in place of anger and transformed back into her normal self.

"Pinkie, I'm sorry I yelled at you and hit you." Twilight apologized. "This whole thing is just...messing me up…"

Pinkie saw that Twilight had begun to cry a bit and took pity on her. Not being one to hold a grudge, she decided to let it slide just this once.

"Twilight, it's okay to feel angry and upset," said Pinkie, "just not to the point where you want to cause harm to others. I feel how angry you are...I know you feel bad about being so angry and want to punish yourself for it."

"Huh...how did you know?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Your aura tells me much…" Pinkie replied. "I know everything you feel. You can try to run and hide, but you can't escape my love and understanding."

Twilight got an eerie chill. Something about those words struck a nerve…

"That's creepy…" Twilight said, but eventually overcame the chill and felt better. "Yet strangely comforting."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Pinkie said half-jokingly. "Now give me a hug. I know you secretly want one."

With a sheepish smile on her face, Twilight gave Pinkie a hug.

"If you ever need me Twilight," said Pinkie seriously, "I'll always be willing to help you."

After the hug was over, Pinkie walked over to the door to the living room and opened it, getting ready to leave.

"Now if you'll excuse me," said Pinkie, "I'm going to go to Discord's place and see what's up with him. I've heard things in Equestria have been getting really chaotic lately…"

After Pinkie departed, Twilight began pondering what she said.

"Chaotic?" she asked herself. "How so?"

 _Ooh, this is where it's going to get good..._

All of a sudden, the TV in the living room magically turned on to provide the answers.

"Our top story tonight!" a yellow-furred and brown-maned pegasus on a news broadcast proclaimed. "Local cello player, Octavia Melody has been found dead in her home!"

"What the…?" Twilight responded.

"Hell has broken loose all over Equestria," continued the newsman, "with countless reports of break-ins, street violence, and missing residents! And to add more fuel to the fire, evidence shows that Octavia Melody was most likely murdered!"

"Again?!" Twilight shouted. "First Fluttershy and now…"

"Octavia was discovered to be dead in a giant dubstep-powered microwave only an hour ago," said the newsman, "along with her prized cello! Investigators believe the cause of death to be radiated dubstep poisoning caused by overexposure to radiated dubstep waves that caused her brain and the rest of her body to explode! What a way to heat things up!"

"Uh…" Twilight said.

"Uh...ahem." the newsman cleared his throat. "This has been Ken Tucke, reporting live from Equestria After Evening! We report on things that are sure to give you a dark and depressing night, BECAUSE IF WE DON'T OUR BOSS WILL KICK US!"

Just then, the TV screen went to striped lines of flashing colors.

At the news station, Ken Tucke looked over his shoulder and saw his boss. The boss was wearing spiked cleets and staring at his rear end menacingly, holding cords he had unplugged in his hooves.

"There's going to be a rainy day where I'm looking at." the boss gave a forecast for the news reporter's behind.

"NO, PLEASE!" Ken pleaded as the boss grabbed him and threw him up against the wall. The boss then thrust the spikes on his cleets into the poor reporter's behind repeatedly. Blood from his ass went all over the place as he screamed and cried.

"And by the way…" the boss said. "You're fired. Get out."

The boss grabbed Ken again, dragged him over to the twentieth story window and threw him out of it. Ken tried to fly to safety, but the intense pain from the terrible wounds on his butt combined with his lack of will to live prevented him from doing so.

"I'm going to die…" he told himself. "All I was doing with my life was putting up with getting kicked in the rear for a job that was a pain in the neck though...maybe it's for the best…"

With those words, the same black robed figure that Tree Hugger saw at Fluttershy's funeral appeared before Ken.

"You are correct, my dear…" the figure said in the voice of a lovely lady. "Death is always the best choice…I'm glad you see things my way…please, come inside me and experience the joy of being dead…"

With that, the figure hugged Ken and kissed him on the lips, causing him to die. She then absorbed his body and soul into herself, and teleported away to her next stop...Vinyl Scratch's residence.

Inside Vinyl Scratch's house, Vinyl was in the kitchen, doing dishes at her wubbing dubstep sink playing techno beats to match the tone of the running water and Tree Hugger was in the living room, meditating. The atmosphere of the place was peaceful until Tree abruptly stopped her meditation.

"I sense an interference in the force…" Tree said. "And it's not an electrical one…"

"Hey, are you implying that my wubs aren't powerful enough to be an interference?" Vinyl asked, shutting off the sink and stepping into the living room, feeling somewhat insulted.

"No, it's just that…" Tree replied. "I'm feeling the same essence I felt at the funeral...I can feel the aura of that figure...and I can feel its intent too...it wants us to become one with it."

"That I do." the figure said, coming from behind Tree.

Tree jumped back in surprise and Vinyl, with her attention being caught as well, looked upon the figure with great fear. They both began quivering. The figure took notice.

"Why do you tremble?" the figure asked. "Do you fear...death?"

Tree and Vinyl both felt their blood run cold.

"That's right…" the figure continued. "Though I may not be death itself, I am its controller and maintainer. I am the Goddess of Death. I have come to this world in person along with another goddess, the God of War, controller and maintainer of war. Unfortunately, our presence here in our current states is creating an aura of fear and bloodlust that is spreading to all mortals in this world who do not have the protection of our superiors. Thusly, things have gotten...stranger than normal. But do not fear, we do all we intend to do for the greater good. That's my reason for killing all my victims...to help them. My three most recent victims are no exception…"

"I recognize two of them…" Tree said with a gulp. "I feel their essences...Fluttershy and Octavia…"

"Bravo," replied the Goddess of Death, "while I didn't directly kill Fluttershy, I played my part in the plan for her death by taking her soul. I see you also know Octavia well. After all, you've been trying to act as her replacement since she and Vinyl had a bit of a falling out…"

Vinyl began to grit her teeth and clench her hooves.

"You killed Octavia…?" she said furiously.

"I heard what had happened from my two most reliable sources," explained the Goddess of Death, "but I never would've figured how much it had hurt Octavia. To think she would directly ask me to kill her in a dubstep microwave, a birthday present from a dear friend…"

Vinyl lost it and ran over to the Goddess of Death, grabbing her by the collar of her robe and punching her in the face. Unphased, the Goddess of Death smiled and decided to show Vinyl and Tree her face. She used magic to levitate the hoodie of her robe off, and Vinyl and Tree were shocked and upset to see who it was…

"Don't worry…" the Goddess of Death said, still smiling. "You'll grow to love my face. After all, it's going to be yours...MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Tree and Vinyl felt like their own shadows had washed over them as they were completely surrounded by darkness from behind. Within the darkness, the Goddess of Death kissed them both on the lips, killing them and transforming their bodies and souls into the darkness that was her. Having assimilated them, the death goddess was overjoyed.

"All the four souls are together now…" she thought. "Unlike the other souls that comprise my body, they shall still know themselves as who they are. They will ensure that the other four souls come to the Immortal World...HA HA HA HA HA…"

She couldn't help but laugh.

"Soon, they'll all be mine…" she proclaimed in triumph. "Soon, everyone in Equestria...WILL BE ME! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Following that laugh, Twilight could be seen in her castle reading a black book with a white star on it, the one the torn page of scroll paper had magically appeared in with a demented look on her face.

"Books!" she said just for the sake of it.

Conclusion of Part 2-B.


	5. Chapter 3

The morning after the funeral, at Celestia's castle…

Princess Celestia was sitting at her throne, levitating a piece of paper and an ink-dipped quill. While she was using the quill to write something on the paper, the ninja who had attacked the castle that fateful night stood beside the throne, looking at the paper and grinning.

"I'm glad you saw it my way." he said happily. "Better than the high way, trust me."

"Shove it…" Celestia replied, frustrated. "I just don't want to see anypony suffer or die anymore…"

"How interesting…" the ninja remarked. "Not only do many of my colleagues think that way, but also my superiors...and a particular friend of mine who once stained her soul black for that very same reason…"

Soon after that was said, a familiar pony wearing a red coat stepped out from behind the throne's shadow…

The night of the funeral, at Twilight Sparkle's place…

Twilight was in bed, sleeping. She was having a dream. In the dream, she was walking down the trail of a dirt road with six figures of shadow following her. Soon, she came to an intersection with three paths, each one branching off to a different direction. The first path led to a trail made of fluffy, white clouds rather than dirt. The second path led to a forest with trees occupied by a myriad number of owls. The third path led to...nothing. All that laid ahead of it was a swirling, black void. It didn't even have a trail...the dirt road ended at the void.

Twilight looked up at the sky out of curiosity and saw that it was dark. Bright white stars in the sky spelled out the message "FLUTTERSHY WAS HERE...BUT WHERE DID SHE GO? WHO WROTE THIS?". Twilight began to think deeply about what to do…

"I don't like any of the paths…" she told herself. "I don't know if any of them are right...which one should I choose?"

 _Which path should Twilight choose?  
_

 _A. Cloud_

 _B. Owl_

 _C. Nothing_

 _D. None, they all suck_

 _E. A.B.C. the riddler!_

 _Those are her options..._

 _Decision #2: Do you wish to see what would happen on each path?_

 _A. Yes, I want to see her dreams_

 _B. No, I want to go straight to Princess Celestia's castle_

Later that morning…

At Celestia's castle, the sun princess was having a mature conversation with Twilight Sparkle's friends in the throne room as Twilight and Spike arrived. Walking up to the throne room doors, Twilight could overhear the conversation. She wondered whether to listen in on it or not…

Decision #4: Should Twilight overhear the conversation?

Stay by the doors to listen in

Enter the room, eavesdropping is wrong

 _Stay by the doors to listen in_

Choosing to listen in on the conversation, Twilight put her head closer to the door…

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't see or hear this…" Spike thought as he turned his head the other way.

Twilight heard better what the others were talking about...

Hmm...what could they be talking about, I wonder. I think maybe you know...So what do you know? That is the question.

Explanation on Questions: At certain points of the story, you, the reader, will be asked questions on how you've been reading the story. Questions are essentially a follow-up to decisions. Your answers to them don't affect the course of the story, but they help keep the story consistent with your decisions. To put it more simply…

You are asked what the conversation is about. You will be provided answers that correlate to a prior decision. For example, if you chose to unleash demon wrath on Pinkie Pie earlier...

Ex: She unleashed demon wrath on her

That's how you should answer, look under the appropriate section in the chapter. What exactly Twilight overhears in this conversation won't impact the story, but it should be different depending on what you did earlier in order to be consistent and make sense. Essentially, you're reaping extra rewards for your decisions, and thus, there's no motive to lie. In fact, being honest should help you enjoy the story more. There's no joy in just reading everything in one go either, the joy is in making a path for yourself that you love!

Now then…

Question #1: What did Twilight do to Pinkie Pie back at her castle?

She unleashed demon wrath on her

She let her go

 _She unleashed demon wrath on her..._

Twilight listened to Pinkie Pie talking about the scar she gave her as a demon...

"That's how I got this scar on my face…" Pinkie Pie explained. "But I don't hold anything against Twilight, I can understand how hard it can be. I struggled to control myself too when my demonic powers were first awakened."

"So it's not just Twilight, you've got a demon in you too…" Celestia said solemnly. "I'm so sorry…"

"Thanks for the sympathies," replied Pinkie, "but it's not all bad. I actually like the idea of being able to produce cake frosting every time I get cheesed off. *gasp* It's like…"

"We get it Pinkie," intervened Rainbow Dash, "you like ice cream cake topped with cheese spray. Now I know it's cool and all that Twilight and Pinkie have demon powers (no, I'm not being sarcastic, it's WAY cool), but I think the bigger concern is where the hay Rarity and that Discord weirdo went."

"Rainbow's actually got a point for once." Applejack followed up. "Where in the world have they been? Literally. They didn't come to the funeral and we've even stopped by Rarity's house multiple times and not found her or even Sweetie Belle there...it's scary, I tell ya."

"Even my sister Luna has vanished…" Celestia said with concern. "We have to solve this mystery. I have assigned you three and Twilight to search for Equestria's missing residents, under the aid of a special detective who is experienced in this kind of field. The detective has told me that she'll introduce herself when Twilight gets here."

 _She let her go_

Twilight listened to the others talking about what had been going on in Equestria lately…

"It's been all over the news…" Rainbow Dash announced, showing Celestia the morning newspaper. "Octavia's dead...and now Tree Hugger, Vinyl Scratch, and even a news reporter have gone missing...shit like this never happens in Ponyville, heck, even Equestria!"

"Something's definitely rotten in Denmark…" Applejack said.

"No kidding," said Pinkie, "you'd think Discord would have something to do with all this chaos going on, but I haven't seen him at all...I even stopped by his place earlier and he wasn't there. Rarity's not been around anywhere either!"

"This is very strange and unsettling…" Celestia remarked. "We have to do something about this. Even my sister Luna has gone missing now. If we allow this to continue the way it is, the results could be catastrophic. That's why when Twilight comes, I am sending you three, her, and a special detective on a mission to find the cause of all this."

"Special detective?" Rainbow asked curiously.

"Yes," replied Celestia, "she doesn't like to talk much about herself, but she is one of Equestria's highest-ranking officers, notorious for going even as far to delve deep into worlds unknown to solve a case. She's an enigmatic figure. She accepted the case, but only under the condition that Princess Twilight Sparkle and all of you agree to come with her on it. She was even here a little while ago, but I have a nagging feeling that she's waiting for Twilight to come to introduce herself so she can meet you all as a group…"

"Hmm…?" Twilight said in puzzlement. "Who in the world could that detective be?"

Just then, Maud Pie came up behind Twilight, and taking a black marker, she drew a line across her throat.

"EEK!" Twilight screeched as she lost balance and opened the throne room doors as she tripped and fell on the floor.

"Sorry I'm late," apologized Maud Pie, "Twilight took her sweet time."

"W-wuh…" Twilight said. "Hey! That was not cool!"

"And eavesdropping was?" Maud replied.

"She's got you there Twilight," said Spike, "even though I don't like the way she used that marker on you. The only naughty thing I do with markers is draw mustaches on other ponies when they're asleep. ...Okay, I also sniff them every now and then."

"Twilight…" the other ponies in the room said, giving her frowns of disappointment.

"I-I'm sorry." Twilight apologized as she gave a sigh of defeat.

Twilight walked over to the other ponies while Maud stood in front of everyone, getting ready to explain the reason for her presence while the others took note of her new flashy red coat.

"This is the case." Maud Pie said. "I'm Maud Pie and I'm a supernatural detective. I shall join you on your adventure. That's all."

 _Enter the room, eavesdropping is wrong_

Choosing to enter the room, Twilight pushed the throne room doors open and she and Spike walked in, the doors shutting behind them.

"Um...hi everyone…" Twilight greeted, feeling worried that the others were talking about what she had done to Pinkie Pie as she saw nervous frowns on Applejack and Rainbow Dash's face.

Twilight's friends and Celestia turned to face her…

Question #2: Did Twilight go down the path of Nothing in her dream?

Yes

No

 _Yes_

"Oh, hi Twilight…" Rainbow Dash greeted, grinning nervously as she noticed Twilight's unusual attire. "You look…"

"Dashing?" Applejack intervened to try and make it quick. "Like a...Cloudsdale news reporter from the 80s?"

Dash facehoofed.

"I was going to say stylish like Spitfire's feminist brother coming home from ComicCon!" Dash exclaimed.

"Oops…" Applejack said, realizing her mistake.

Twilight couldn't help but feel just a little irked.

"Seriously?" she thought. "I've had this outfit for a while! They're acting like I just pulled it out of the closet!"

 _No_

"Great to see you again, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed, just being happy to see her. "We were talking and going over a lot of big stuff before you came over here, but I'll just give it to you straight. Celestia invited us all over here to play "Who Went Where?" with a special detective!"

Twilight just stared at Pinkie and Celestia awkwardly.

"Uhh...I can explain." Celestia said, dotting her eyes about nervously.

"Don't worry," said a familiar pony in a red coat who stepped out from behind Celestia's shadow, "I shall do the explaining. I'm Maud Pie and I'm a supernatural detective. I shall join you on your adventure. That's all."

Supernatural Detective Maud Pie has joined the party!

The room went silent for a moment and Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow were all like, "WHAT?!". Pinkie Pie, however was all like, "Oh, awesome!", and Maud was all like "Yeah, it's shocking and cool.".

"We never knew you were a supernatural detective!" Rainbow exclaimed as she, Applejack, and Twilight all looked at Maud weirdly.

"I've always known!" Pinkie proclaimed, looking at her friends like they were crazy. "Have you guys seriously never heard of how Maud single-hoofedly solved the case of the sailing stones last year?"

A flashback began playing, in which Maud Pie was just staring apathetically at these two giant boulders.

And staring...and staring...and staring...

After a while, the boulders began to sweat and one of them cried to the other…

"SHE'S ONTO US, MAN! I CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE ANYMORE! LET'S JUST COME CLEAN AND EASE THE SUFFERING!"

The flashback ended…

"It turns out that those moving rocks were actually possessed by demons who had a plot to run over and crush innocent civilians just for the fun of it!" Pinkie elaborated. "Ponies everywhere were paranoid about what other rocks may have been possessed! Candy stores all across Equestria made a mass recall on rock candy for a while! But thanks to Maud, many lives were saved!"

"Don't thank me, thank the Powers That Be that work through me." Maud said humbly. "Honestly, that whole case was just a stone I couldn't leave unturned."

"Oh, Maud!" Pinkie exclaimed with a goofy grin and laughed.

"Ha, hee, ha, hyuk, ho." Maud said, trying to laugh with her. "These are the words of a laugh."

Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow kept their awkward looks on, still not being convinced.

"I know we live in a magical world, but...really?" Rainbow thought. "I know fucked up stuff happens in our world but...that was just...fuck."

"Something feels wrong, like this just doesn't fit…" Applejack thought.

"No, I just can't believe that Maud Pie would become a supernatural detective...I just can't!" Twilight thought.

Spike had no thoughts to share, for he was lying on the floor asleep. Maud Pie noticed, and gave a weird look of her own as she looked above him…she then glanced at the others and saw their expressions of disbelief before she turned to Pinkie.

"It seems your friends don't believe us." Maud said. "I think they need proof…"

"Proof?" Pinkie asked. "What kind of proof?"

Maud took off her red coat and dropped it on the ground, creating a clattering noise and revealing that she had a sheath that contained a saber with a silver blade and a gold, cross-shaped hilt on her back. On the edge of the blade was engraved the initials, "M.M.".

"If they don't believe our words Pinkie," replied Maud as she pulled the saber out from the sheath, "they'll believe through a baptism...just like you."

Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow froze in fear as Maud held out her sword, pointing it in their direction.

"Maud, wait!" Pinkie shouted. "We don't need to do that!"

"What in God's name are you doing?!" Celestia rightfully declared. "I was promised you wouldn't hurt anyone!"

"Promised?" Twilight thought.

Maud ignored Pinkie and Celestia as the cross on her sword's hilt began to emanate a glowing white light. She then tossed the sword at...what she had seen above Spike.

"AAAAAIIIIIEEEEE!" screamed what sounded like many ponies crying all at once upon being hit  in the chest by Maud Pie's sword. One particular cry echoed thrice. In the crying, five voices everyone in the room recognized could be heard, the voices of Octavia Heartstrings, Tree Hugger, Vinyl Scratch, and the last two that would strike Twilight and Celestia especially…

"!" Twilight went. "...Fluttershy?!"

"!" Celestia went. "...Luna?!"

Knowing that her cover had been blown, what had been above Spike became visible as a dark robed figure with a hoodie covering her head and face hovering in the air...it was the Goddess of Death. Having been hit in the chest with Maud's sword, she was bleeding blood and ectoplasm onto Spike from her stab wound. Spike didn't wake up, however, even as the blood and ectoplasm dripped on him and was absorbed into his scalish skin…

"So," said Maud, "you put a sleep spell on him. Just what I'd expect from the guardian of dreams."

"Guardian of dreams?" Celestia said as she pondered and soon realized what that meant. "No…"

"Scoundrel…" the Goddess of Death said to Maud as she grabbed Spike under her right front leg. "Next time we meet, I'll pay you back on my home turf! If you ever want to see your friend alive again, you'll come to the Arc Rising graveyard at 5:30 PM tomorrow evening! I'll be waiting!"

"Stop!" Twilight yelled as she and all of the others ran towards the Goddess of Death as fast as they could, only for her to start teleporting away by wrapping herself and Spike in a sphere of darkness. Everyone except Twilight was unable to follow her into the sphere of darkness, and even Twilight could only faintly make out the Goddess of Death in the darkness as she entered. Nevertheless, Twilight prepared to fire a magic laser blast from her horn at her.

"GIVE HIM BACK!" she cried as she shot the laser beam at the Goddess of Death. The Goddess of Death flung off her robe, rolling and ducking while grabbing Spike under her front legs. Having taken off her robe, the Goddess of Death's face was revealed to Twilight. Twilight paused when she noticed her face…

"I knew it…" Twilight thought to herself. "It's just like in the book...everything in it that's been written has come true…"

Then, the Goddess of Death finished her teleportation. She and Spike disappeared along with the sphere of darkness, but her robe, oddly enough, was left behind. Twilight clutched it with her hooves and knelt her head in despondence.

"Am I...powerless to it?" she asked herself as small tears rolled out of her eyes. "Will it all end...how they want it to?"

That depends on who "they" is, Twilight. If "they" is Trey and that bus boy from the restaurant with the really good sushi, then I'm sure everything will be fine!

"Twilight…" Applejack said as she and the others came over to Twilight, looking somber. "I'm sorry we couldn't help…"

"Please…" Twilight replied. "Don't apologize. I'm the one who failed...and for that, I am…"

Twilight turned to the others and gave them a look of great anger.

"UNFORGIVABLE." Twilight said as her demon aura and fangs became visible.

Spooked upon seeing Twilight in such a state, Twilight's friends kept silent.

"What's happening to you, Twilight?" Applejack pondered. "First what you did to Pinkie and now this...it's like you're completely different…"

Maud Pie was also pondering something...

"Even Pinkie and I couldn't pass through that darkness…" she thought. "I wonder…"

Celestia was looking at Twilight and thinking too…

"Did she hesitate to apprehend her...because she was Noava Falling's mother? Or...does she know that it's been scripted for her and her friends to go to the cemetery named after my son and fight...that prince..."

"Twilight, I know it's sad what's going on…" Celestia said, heartbroken seeing Twilight like this. "It's even sadder how helpless it makes us feel trying to comprehend all this...but right now, what's most important is to do what we can to help Spike. I beg all of you...please go to the Arc Rising cemetery tomorrow's eve and rescue Spike from the Goddess of Death!"

"Aren't you going to come to?" Dash asked, assuming Celestia would definitely want to join them to confront the Goddess of Death after hearing Luna's voice come from her.

Celestia then looked over at Maud, who shook her head in response.

"No…" Celestia replied with a crestfallen sigh. "I have to stay here and watch over the citizens of Equestria, in case I have to protect them from harm with the recent outburst of chaos. As for you, I'll have to be with you in spirit. Please, take care."

"We have time before we have to meet the Goddess of Death." Maud reminded everypony. "In that time, I want to take you guys somewhere and show you something important."

Maud walked to the doors of the throne room, only to look back and see the others still giving her those awkward looks.

"Don't worry, I will explain." she said. "I know what the death goddess wants, a battle. That's why I need to get you guys prepared for war…please follow me..."

Not seeing any other options, all the other ponies, excluding Celestia, obeyed. They followed Maud Pie out of the throne room of Celestia's castle, the doors ominously slamming shut behind them…

End of Part Three.

"That's the end of the third part!" Boss shouted. "So, how did you all enjoy it?"

"I guess it was a little better than the first two chapters," said Dumb-bell, "at least the story is picking up a bit."

"It is a bit better than the first two chapters," concurred Hoops, "but it's still not great by any means. I also find the twist of Maud Pie being a "badass hero" to be cliche."

"..." Score silently expressed a similar opinion.

"Incoming combo breaker," said G.R.D., "this chapter was just as bad if not worse than the first two. Already, this story is starting to become what I predicted it to become (OMG WE HAVE THIS DEEP SERIOUS STORY WHERE TWILIGHT HAS A BOOK AND THESE GODS OR WHATEVER ARE MAKING STUFF HAPPEN EVEN THOUGH IT MAKES NO SENSE BEST STORY EVER IF YOUR 12 YRS OLD!1!), and even disregarding that, in no way was this chapter entertaining at all. It was just dull exposition and crappy comic relief. Seriously, it literally was just five lines of exposition, nonsense joke, five more lines of exposition, sex joke, introducing a completely out of character Maud Pie, Family Guy cutaway gag?! Just...what the fuck?"

"Combo breaker breaker!" Derpy exclaimed. "This chapter ruled! This new version of Maud Pie is awesome! That part where it looked like she was going to baptize the ponies but was really just trying to attack the Goddess of Death was so cool!"

"Glad everyone except Derpy loved it!" Boss said happily. "Trust me, the next chapter is where the story starts getting really good!"

Clue #3: Hit thrice


	6. Twilight's Dreams

_The Dream of Heaven_

Choosing to go down the path of clouds, Twilight fell through the first cloud she walked on and continued falling into a realm filled with fluffy, white clouds surrounding a blue sky. Confused as to how she couldn't walk on them, even though she was an alicorn, she tried to fly. But when she tried to flap her wings and fly...she realized there was no need to. She was floating. However, she couldn't move on her own or talk. She just kept drifting along with the current of air in the sky until a familiar yellow pegasus wearing a white robe grabbed her. Smiling and caressing Twilight tightly, she got on top of her and began to fluff her by stamping her with her hooves. She then got into position and started taking a nap on Twilight. At last, Twilight realized what was going on…

 _Fluttershy's an angel in heaven...and I'm her cloud…_

 _The Dream of Owls_

Choosing to go down the path of owls, Twilight examined the trees and the owls in the forest curiously. She couldn't stop thinking about what Tree Hugger said at the funeral about Fluttershy being reincarnated as an owl. The more she thought about Fluttershy being an owl in the Everfree Forest, and the more she worried about Fluttershy not being able to survive against all of its dangerous creatures, the darker the forest became. Panicking, Twilight tried to run through the forest, but it eventually became so dark that she couldn't even see her hooves in front of her face. She tried casting an illumination spell, but to no avail. Not being able to use magic had her more frightened than ever, and she fell to her knees crying. But soon, a yellow owl with familiar pink hair and blue eyes flew down towards her and wrapped its wings around her.

"Why are you crying, Twilight?" the owl asked in a recognizable voice, trying to comfort her. "Is something wrong?"

"F-Fluttershy?" Twilight replied, knowing that voice. "Is that really you?"

"Hee hee…" Fluttershy giggled, blushing. "I could ask you the same thing, Owlight."

"Wait...what?" Twilight said, confused.

Fluttershy turned on a lamp, the light emanating from it revealing that Twilight and her were inside a tree that Fluttershy had made her home. It was in this light that Twilight could see herself clearly as she looked down. Not only that, but she and Fluttershy were on a bed…

"You're looking nice…" Fluttershy flirted. "And don't worry, even though you're an owl now, you still have a horn…"

Looking up and noticing that her unicorn horn was gone, Twilight realized what was going on…

 _I'm an owl and Fluttershy wants to have sex with me…_

 _The Dream of Nothing_

Choosing to go down the path of nothing, Twilight found herself walking into...nothing. She felt nothing as she treaded the nonexistent trail, and felt nothing around her. It was just cold darkness...that was somehow also nothing. It spooked her, and as she looked back, she saw that their was nothing to turn back towards. As she looked ahead of her, she saw nothing to walk towards. There was nothing that she could do.

"Would I ever be able to see Fluttershy again in this blackness?" she asked herself.

"No," replied a voice, "you don't even see the blackness. You just don't exist."

"Wow, you're polite." Twilight said sarcastically. "Who do you think who you are?"

"I was once Fluttershy." the voice spoke. "But now, I am nothing. And you too, shall be nothing soon. Surrender to me your existence...accept me to free yourself from your fear of death...accept that you will become nothing in death, and you shall have everything you ever wanted in life…"

Twilight realized what was going on...

 _Fluttershy is nothingness and she wants me to join her…_

 _The Dream of Choosing No Path_

Choosing none of the options, Twilight looked up to the dark sky with a frustrated scowl on her face. She realized what was _really_ going on…

"Come out, Goddess of Death…" she said. "I know what this is. This is a riddle you came up with…"

With that, a laugh echoed across the sky.

"How intriguing…" the Goddess of Death replied, appearing in the sky as a dark figure whose face was eclipsed by a robe hoodie. "You saw through my illusions...but can you explain to me my riddle?"

"Easily." Twilight said confidently, nodding her head. "You asked me where Fluttershy went. The three paths represented the three things I thought could've happened to her after she had died. You wanted me to choose which one I believed would lead me to Fluttershy. The problem is that none of them lead me to Fluttershy. All of them just lead me to how I imagine Fluttershy. The only one who knows where the real Fluttershy is is you. But how do I get to you? There is no right answer to that question because every path we take in life ultimately leads to death... _every path_. And there are not just three possible paths to be taken after...there are an infinite number of paths that I just haven't thought about yet. That's why you asked me the question in the form of the stars in the sky, because like them, you are infinite!"

"Ooh, VERY good." Goddess of Death replied. "You are absolutely right, I _am_ infinite. Anyone can think of me any way they want, but no matter which way they choose, they have to accept me in the end. Great job figuring it out. I would love to have someone like you as a friend."

"F-friend?!" Twilight yelled in surprise. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Come now," said Goddess of Death, "just because I kill ponies doesn't mean I'm all bad. To be honest, I actually consider myself to be good. I love living creatures. If not for them, I'd have no reason to exist and my ultimate goal would be completely impossible to achieve. I'm sorry that I took Fluttershy from you, but it had to be done...it's my job. Also, aren't you the princess of friendship? Surely, you of all ponies would forgive what I've done and accept me as your friend, right?"

Twilight was unsure of how to respond to that…should she forgive the Death goddess?

 _Decision #3: Should Twilight accept the Goddess of Death's friendship?_

Forgive the Goddess of Death

Don't forgive the Goddess of Death

 _Not Forgiving Her_

Twilight chose to turn her heart to ice and said…

"No...I don't care if you're sorry...the damage has been done...and the damage is IRREPARABLE. The moment you took Fluttershy away from me is the moment you took an invaluable piece of my friendship away. And believe it or not, THAT'S not the worst part. I didn't fall into a depression just because I lost a part of what I had held so dear, I also realized that because of YOU, I'm eventually going to lose EVERYTHING I hold so dear! That's why I can never be friends with you! I can't be friends with someone who's going to take friends away from me! So long as you exist in this world, you are my enemy! I will do anything in my power to ruin you!"

"Aww…" the Goddess of Death responded. "You're adorable. I also love how you said "ruin you". Because you know in your heart that you can not kill me...even if I die, death will live on in this world. I didn't create it...even before I came to control death, it has always been around…it is eternal."

With those words, Twilight looked at her hooves and thought to herself for a bit before saying…

"If that's true, then I will do anything in my power to KILL death itself...not just for me and my friends...but the world too. I'm not going to be depressed anymore because I have something to live for again...the day no one has to die ever again!"

In response, the Goddess of Death began to laugh and clap.

"Your resolve is so ADMIRABLE!" the Goddess of Death proclaimed delightfully. "To stand up against the eternal, undying force that I live for...I LOVE YOU! I simply MUST kill you in the most GLORIOUS fashion I can imagine! Until we meet again, I'll be thinking of how wonderful it will be to have you as a part of me…"

"Wait," replied Twilight as her dream started to end, "what does that me-"

Before Twilight could finish, she woke up in bed.

"Damn…" she swore. "What the fuck did she mean by that crud? And why would Princess Luna allow me to have a dream like that? Unless…"

Twilight thought things over until it finally dawned on her…

"I need to go to Princess Celestia…" she told herself. "I feel...there's something I need to do there."

 _Forgiving Her_

Twilight chose to warm up her heart and said…

"Yes...I mean, I still hate what you've done but I don't feel I have the right to stand against you until I know the reason why you do this. Maybe there's an even higher force that tells you to do what you do, maybe you are working for a greater good, I don't know. But for now, I want to believe that you're not truly evil and call you a friend…"

"Ha ha, for now…" the Goddess of Death replied. "Honestly, you're too kind. I didn't think you would forgive me at all. But hey, I won't complain since this is going to make things more enjoyable for both me AND you."

"Huh?" Twilight responded as her dream began to end. "What do you mean by th-"

 _CON the Riddler_

Choosing to CON the riddler, Twilight began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" a voice from the sky asked.

"I know who wrote this, just letting you know." Twilight replied. "Me."

"What?!" the voice yelled. "No, you didn't, I did!"

"Oh, please…" Twilight taunted. "It's obvious that I wrote the message in the sky. This is my dream, and "Where did Fluttershy go?" is a question I've been asking myself a lot lately. All these paths are meant to portray all my perceptions of what may have happened to Fluttershy after she died. I've read about you in my book. You're the Goddess of Death, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?" the voice asked.

"Oh, nothing." Twilight said with a grin. "It's just that I always knew the Goddess of Death had no power over dreams...or even the night sky for that matter…"

In response to that, a familiar pony appeared before Twilight.

"Thou insolent whelp!" the familiar pony exclaimed. "I am not just the Goddess of Death, but I am also Prince Luna, goddess of not just the night, but dreams as well!"

Twilight began laughing really hard.

"Thanks for the information, sucker!" Twilight scoffed. "You just gave away your identity!"

Luna's face went red with embarrassment.

"Th-thou art lying!" Luna cried in desperation. "Th-this did not happen! It was only a dream! WE WERE NEVER HERE!"

Luna attempted to run away, only to get hit by a car.

"Ow." she said.

She then attempted to fly away, only to get hit by a plane.

"Double ow." she said. "It's a good thing I'm made of souls..."

Luna came to regret saying that out loud when she looked over at Twilight, who was laughing even harder than before now…

"FUCK!" Luna shouted in anger.

Twilight knew exactly what was going on now. She kinda just woke up after that and went to Princess Celestia's castle because she had to do something important there or some shit...

 _Awakening from the Heaven Dream_

"Glad you chose me…" the Fluttershy angel said. "I'm going to love sleeping with you…"

With those words, Twilight suddenly awoke from her slumber in her bed. Turning over, she looked at her mattress. Rubbing it warmly, she knelt her head close to it and whispered…

"I'm sorry if I ever treated you roughly...I know how you feel now…"

Later that morning, Twilight was seen at her dining room table eating breakfast. She was having a bowl of instant oatmeal that Spike had prepared for her. Noticing that Twilight was looking not soul-crushingly depressed but still aloof, Spike decided to ask her how she was feeling…

"Are you feeling better Twilight…?" Spike asked as he twiddled his fingers nervously. "...Just a little?"

"I guess…" Twilight replied, trying not to discourage him too much. "Maybe my problem right now is that I'm just...bored. I want something to do. Hopefully, something that could help somepony in some way…"

"Oh…" Spike said as something dawned on him. "Well if it's any help, I got a letter from Princess Celestia earlier this morning…"

"Hmm?" Twilight said, curious.

"Yeah…" Spike continued. "She wanted you to come to the castle whenever you had the time today. Something happened at the castle two nights ago...she said she needs your help."

"...Okay." Twilight replied. "Please send for a chariot as soon as you can. I'm not feeling like flying right now...I just want to drift across the sky…"

Spike just stared at Twilight in confusion and blinked.

"I guess you woke up on the wrong side of the bed…" he said with a shoulder shrug.

 _Awakening from the Owl Dream_

"Glad you chose me…" Flutterowl said, shutting off the light. "Come and make sweet love in my treehole tonight…"

With those words, Twilight awoke from her slumber in her bed, feeling discomfort in her joints and an odd sensation in her wings. Looking back at her wings, she realized they were erect, and blushed in response…

"Now I know why they call it a wingboner…" she said with a shudder.

Later that morning, Twilight was at the breakfast table, stirring a spoon around in a cup of coffee with an unnerved look on her face. Spike took notice…

"Is something wrong, Twilight?" he asked in concern.

"Not really…" Twilight replied, knowing she couldn't discuss the dream she had with Spike in detail and feel right about it. "I just had a nightmare last night...it just creeped me out. That's all. I just want to do something today that will help get my mind off of it..."

"I know what could help…" Spike said.

"You do?" Twilight said.

"Yeah," continued Spike as he breathed fire and made a scroll appear, "I got a letter from Princess Celestia this morning. She has something to ask of you…"

Twilight picked up the scroll and read it. It said this…

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I am sorry that I was not present for Fluttershy's funeral two days ago. Very weird and wrong things that have been happening all over Equestria have kept me busy, and to add more fuel to the fire, my sister Luna has gone missing. Please come to my palace as soon as you can today before sunset...I need your help so that I may be able to get to the bottom of this.

Yours Truly,

Princess Celestia

"Wow…" Twilight reacted in astonishment. "The madness never ends...I have to do something to help, though. Come on, Spike. We're going to see Princess Celestia."

"Right now?" Spike asked to be absolutely sure.

"Of course," replied Twilight, "why should I wait? We only have till nightfall. And trust me, I'm _definitely_ not going to wait till nightfall…"

Spike scratched his head in puzzlement.

"Was that...a joke?" he thought. "If it was, I'm sorry Twilight, but that one was far from a hoot."

 _Awakening from the Nothing Dream_

"Glad you chose nothing…" the nothing Fluttershy said. "Once you choose nothing, you never have to choose again…"

Immediately after that, Twilight woke up and couldn't even move at first. She felt like she had sat on herself for a really long time or something. Like she had become so numb she couldn't feel herself...looking down at her body, she asked herself…

"What...are you…? What...is me...?"

Twilight then started thinking about Fluttershy...

"Is Fluttershy...nothing? Does that mean...our friendship...is nothing?"

Twilight then started thinking about death...and became very angry…

"If death didn't exist...I would still have Fluttershy...if death continues to exist...I'm going to lose all my friends eventually...forever...no matter what we do, death will destroy our bond…"

Twilight's anger then grew so strong that she changed into a demon...

"AND I WON'T HAVE IT!" Twilight shouted.

Twilight's entire body became black and scaled as she grew black claws in place of hooves on all of her legs, and the red aura her body emitted was so strong, it made her hair go up. To maximize the dramatic effect, Twilight got dressed in black leather pants, a white shirt, a black leather jacket, and put on a pair of black sunglasses. She looked like Duke Nukem's lesbian cousin and loved it too. She soon turned back into a pony as her intense anger abated, but remained suppressed inside of her…

In her brand new attire, Twilight came down the stairs and saw Spike dressed in a small, white kitchen apron walking towards the stairs. Spike stopped when he saw Twilight, and got a sheepish smile.

"Oh, hi Twilight…" he greeted her, examining her clothes. "I was just about to see if you were up since it's 9 AM, and you always eat breakfast at nine...there's a bowl of oatmeal for you in the kitchen…"

"Thanks." Twilight expressed gratitude the coolest way she knew. "But I'm at the point of my life where I can make my own oatmeal…I can't stay lame forever..."

"Huh?" Spike said as Twilight passed by him and went into the kitchen. "What does that mean?"

Curious, Spike followed Twilight to the kitchen. Peeking around the open doorway, he was shocked to see Twilight ripping a large bag of oats open with her magic, pouring them into her mouth and guzzling down the leftover boiling water Spike had used to make the oatmeal.

"Holy moly, Twilight…" Spike remarked as he came into the kitchen and saw the now empty bag of oats float down to the floor at his feet. "Are you having a...really awkward growth spurt?"

In reaction, Twilight glanced over at Spike.

"Indeed I am…" she replied. "My inner self is going through a really awkward growth spurt...and by the end of it, I'm going to be strong enough to kill death itself."

Spike just stared at her and blinked in confusion.

"Well, good for you!" he exclaimed skittishly. "Also, I didn't want to spring this on you right away since I know what you've been going through, but since you seem to be feeling more energetic, I may as well tell you now. I got a letter from Princess Celestia earlier this morning. She says she wants you to come to her castle as soon as possible. She needs to discuss something with you that's imperative."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Twilight quickly replied. "Let's go."

"W-woah…" Spike said, still surprised and somewhat unnerved by Twilight's sudden burst of energy. "Now?"

"Right this moment." Twilight said. "Get on my back, we're leaving at once."

"Okay…" Spike replied, obediently climbing on her back.

Barely a second later, Twilight raised her wings and flew out a nearby window, breaking it in the process. Unwounded but not unafraid, Spike hung onto Twilight for dear life as the equally unwounded and unafraid alicorn flew towards Celestia's castle at full speed.

"I know now that feeling depressed about this while worrying about what may or not be true isn't going to change anything…" Twilight thought to herself. "Death is true. Friendship is true. That's all. Death must die. Friendship must live. My life purpose as the princess of friendship is obvious...I MUST KILL DEATH!"


	7. Chapter 4

After the ponies departed the throne room of Princess Celestia's castle, Maud Pie led them to a place that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had never been to or even seen before...it was a large, twenty-story, mechanical construct surrounded by five equally high mechanical towers.

"This is the technological tower called Starcatch." Maud explained. "While the meaning of the name is a mystery to the citizens of Equestria, the purpose of its existence is well-known, even to the general populace. Its purpose is to collect important information from the world and convert it into digital data so that it may be eternally preserved. Vague, I know, but it's the info the general public got..."

"How come we didn't know, then?" Rainbow asked suspiciously. "I'd say we're a pretty good and accurate representation of the general public!"

"THE GENERAL PUBLIC!" a handsome stallion hunk doing a movie trailer voice announced as Rainbow and friends did their best pose.

Maud just stared at them with her best dull stare before going…

"That's debatable."

"How did this get here?" Twilight asked. "Even with all our advancements in magic, technology, and magic technology, I can't imagine a place like this being built on such little notice! I'm a princess, why wasn't I ever told about this? Heaven in Tartarus, where were Princess Celestia and Luna in all this?!"

In response to that...Maud smiled...a sinister-looking smile.

"How do you know…" Maud began to ask. "...if they had anything to do with this at all? Don't you think it's possible that something...or some _one_ else was behind this place's appearance?"

Twilight didn't know exactly why...but she felt irked.

"Don't be an idiot…" Twilight said with a scowl. "That's ludicrous! Are you trying to suggest that it fell out of the sky? What are you hinting at by "some _one_ "? Who is the one? God?! Did God just shit out the next step of the technological revolution?!"

"...God?" Applejack thought in confusion. "First Celestia, now her?"

"Woah, Twilight." Rainbow said in intervention. "Take it easy, she was just suggesting something to keep us open to another possibility."

"No," replied Twilight, "she was suggesting something to try to get us to accept an impossibility! She just wants us to believe a bunch of goddamn crap!"

"Hey, cut it out Twilight!" a displeased Pinkie exclaimed. "This isn't like you! Maud didn't say anything to try and upset you, be nice!"

"Thanks you two," said Maud gratefully, "but there's no need to defend me. Twilight knows."

"So do we…" Applejack said as she, Pinkie, and Rainbow each gave Twilight a disappointed look.

Twilight knelt her head in shame.

"I'm sorry." she apologized. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's fine." Maud replied, still smiling. "I know you'll try not to do it again. After all, you absolutely hate making mistakes. I know that you want to be a perfect being without error."

Maud Pie chuckled to herself as all the others became puzzled. Twilight began to feel odd. She looked down at her front legs and saw green zeroes and ones briefly flash throughout them. She then looked at Maud suspiciously…

"I don't know what it is...but I don't like whoever this Maud Pie is now…" Twilight said in thought. "Something about her...just bugs me!"

 _Ooh...the suspense! I hope you guys like campfire stories, because this is where things are going to get spooky…_

Later that night, Maud Pie had invited the others to stay over at her house. Even though it was only 9:30 P.M., Twilight had decided to go to bed early. After apologizing again for how she had acted early and saying that she needed some sleep, she retired to a guest room on the second floor. Little did Twilight's friends know, Twilight wasn't planning to go to sleep right away…

"Oh...OH!" Twilight moaned and groaned.

I think we know what she was doing...

She was reading the black book with a white star on it, the one with the page that had magically appeared inside it again.

"Ooohh...this book is driving me crazy!" she wailed. "It's like reading a bad erotic novel!"

 _Uh...let's see what the others are doing. This isn't what I meant by spooky…_

Maud Pie and the others had gathered around a fireplace in the living room. Maud sat on the floor, in front of the fire that was roaring in the fireplace, while the others sat on the couch, facing Maud.

"We've gathered around the campfire…" Maud called it that. "But not to sing our campfire song."

"Oh, are we going to sing Kumbaya with boy scouts instead?" Rainbow Dash asked jokingly.

"That can be arranged." Maud replied, also joking, taking it on herself to be the sarcastic one. "But for right now, I want to tell all of you a scary story...a true scary story."

"Ooh...these are always good!" Pinkie exclaimed, shaking with excitement. "I still haven't gotten over that one about the demon fairy pirates! I didn't want to believe that one...but I had to…"

Pinkie looked over at the staircase leading up to the second floor worriedly, and through the staircase pillars, she could see a demon fairy pirate, who looked like Tinker Bell with an eyepatch, hook, and devil horns, giving her an evil stare while pointing her right index finger at her menacingly…

"No," said Maud Pie, shooting the fairy pirate an apathetic stare that scared her into teleporting away, "you didn't. I'm serious. After I've told this story, I'll have you two convinced that I am who I say I am."

Maud had said that last sentence while turning to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and in response, Applejack and Rainbow just smiled nonchalantly.

"Listen Maud," said Applejack, "we like you, and though we may find some of the things you've said and done strange, we believe that you have good intentions and have been as honest with us as possible. We trust you all the same, story or none."

"Mhmm...basically what Applejack said," said Rainbow, "but to add to it, I doubt you'll be able to scare me."

"Let's see about that…" Maud responded. "Storytime commences now…"

 _Decision #5: What kind of scary story should Maud Pie tell?_

 _A. One about a serial killer!_

 _B. One about Rainbow Dash's ghost!_

"Storytime is over now." Maud Pie said. "Did you guys like it?"

"I REALLY liked it!" Pinkie exclaimed happily. "I loved how much effort you put into giving Applejack and Rainbow Dash a good time! You know they don't get to see this kind of stuff nearly as often as I do!"

"Wha-what do these two do when they're together?!" Applejack thought.

"...Only nearly?" Rainbow thought about the context of that.

"It's too bad Twilight wasn't here for this." Maud said. "But I understand with her being busy...sleeping."

She knows...

"I'm retiring to my room now." Maud told the others as she walked away towards her bedroom. "But before I leave, I just want to tell you something…"

"?" the others went as Maud turned her head around and faced them.

"Pinkie Pie knew." Maud said. "I asked her to keep quiet so I could show you myself."

Applejack and Rainbow were slightly stunned by that as Maud Pie entered her bedroom. It's like she knew that the first thing they were going to do was ask Pinkie about why she had been mostly calm and quiet in the face of this bizarre event. That aside, Applejack and Rainbow Dash knew one thing for sure now…

They were on a journey with a Maud Pie completely different from the one they knew.

The next day…

It was 5:15 P.M., and the ponies had arrived at Arc Rising cemetery. Having led them there after spending some time going over their strategy, Maud Pie had prepared adequately for the situation at hand. Her and the others had entered the graveyard, ready to face the Goddess of Death.

"Come out Goddess of Death." Maud declared with dull energy. "You're finished."

"Yes, I am…" the Goddess of Death said as she and a still unconscious Spike materialized. "Finished waiting for you to show up, that is. You're fifteen minutes early, and yet I wish you had come sooner, my beloved children. I would've scheduled a sooner time, but I just love this time of the day so much, the time when the night draws so close. Plus, that would've meant less time for me to spend with my dear child, Spike…"

Twilight Sparkle and her friends growled as they witnessed the Goddess of Death hugging Spike and nuzzling him affectionately.

"You sicko…" Twilight insulted her angrily. "Give him back right now! Don't even think about using him as an advantage in whatever screwed up games you want to play with us!"

"Ah yes," replied the Goddess of Death, "you may have him back alive and well."

With those words, the Goddess of Death levitated Spike down to the others. Twilight felt his pulse, and after breathing a sigh of relief upon realizing he was alive, quickly teleported Spike back to her castle, in his bed safe and sound.

"I don't want the poor thing to be lonely inside me without his friends for even a short while. I want all of you to be inside of me together, after you learn the truth about yourselves of course, my dear children…"

"What do you mean, "truth"?" Applejack asked in frustration. "And would ya stop calling us yer kids?"

"Yeah, it's super creepy!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"We weren't told that you were our father!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, holding a script in her front legs that she was waving in the air.

"I am your father," replied the Goddess of Death, "in a loose sense of the word."

"Phew…" Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief. "That's not so bad."

"I'm one of the gods who helped create you." the Goddess of Death explained. "Your parents in this world are not the ones who conceived you."

"D'oh!" Pinkie grunted as Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow looked upon the death goddess in shock.

"Heh heh heh…" the Goddess of Death chuckled. "You seem shocked. But deep down, you know it to be true. You all have found it bizarre that the only memories you have are the ones that have been written into your brains by the Gods of Reality and Fantasy. Remembering not your childhoods, not the experiences that made you who you are today, not even how you became friends. You all know deep down that you are just shadows of your former selves, real people who have been reduced to fictional characters…"

"Shut the fuck up!" Twilight shouted. "That's crap! We're not "fictional characters" to be used for your shitty idea of entertainment!"

The death goddess then turned her attention to Twilight, chuckling now at her hammy acting…

"You don't have to try so hard to pretend, Twilight…" the Goddess of Death said amusedly. "Surely, you knew about this from reading that book…"

Twilight's friends turned their attention to her as well.

"What does she mean by that, Twilight?" they asked.

Twilight gulped and began to sweat nervously. She then sighed in despondence.

"I'm sorry, guys…" Twilight said in a crestfallen tone. "But what she's saying is true. We're not who we were made to believe we were. We're not even from Equestria. We used to be human beings from another world. The reason we don't have any memories of it is because the gods who brought us here and transformed us wiped our minds clean of any of them. I kept quiet about it because I was worried it would hurt you."

"What are you saying?" Applejack and Rainbow asked as Twilight turned her head the other way and said nothing else. "Twilight!"

As Applejack and Rainbow tried to talk to Twilight, Pinkie walked over to Maud Pie and said…

"Is that the same reason why you never told me that I was a human clone too? You didn't want me to be upset?"

"Mostly." Maud responded as she pulled out her sword, the cross on the end of it glowing once more. "I also knew that by what my superiors wanted to happen, you were going to find out eventually. I guess we all figured the best time would be right here when you were together with your friends staring Death in the face."

"Until we were staring Death in the face?" Pinkie said in confoundment. "That's...not really the ripest time to spring life-changing information on someone…"

While the others were talking, they didn't notice the Goddess of Death muttering something under her breath as her horn lit up. Four spirits left her body, and flew out into the distance, the others paying them no mind.

"Come on," replied Maud, "it's not like you can't take it with you to the grave."

"Wait a minute…" Pinkie said as she thought what Maud said over. "Are you implying that it's...good that we know this?"

"Of course it's good that you know this," replied Maud, "because it's the truth. Lies and half-truths that we tell ourselves can only provide us with fleeting comfort. Truth, however, no matter how painful it may be, provides us with an eternal solace of happiness and peace...once it's accepted."

"I weary of all of this conversation," said the Goddess of Death, "it's about time we fight."

"Good," said Maud as she got into a fighting stance with the cross on her saber still glowing, "because I can't wait to hurt your spirit any longer, my dear friend…"

THE BATTLE COMMENCES

The Goddess of Death's unicorn horn lit up, and she shot a blue laser beam up towards the sky. As she held her right hoof close to her face and began to chant something, Maud took her sword in hooves, and rushed towards the Goddess of Death. Before she got a chance to slice her, however, she was struck in the back by a white laser beam from the sky and became temporarily stunned. Looking up towards the sky in puzzlement, she saw where the attack had come from, a star amongst many other stars in the sky. While Maud wondered why only one of the stars attacked her, the others glanced up at the now starry sky as well, equally confused.

"It's only a quarter after five in the evening…" Twilight said. "It's not even that dark, yet...there are stars in the sky?"

"No," replied Maud Pie, who had recovered from the blast, "they're not stars...they're souls. The Goddess of Death called them back into this world to aid her…"

"Wrong." the Goddess of Death chimed in. "They've always been in this world. This world is its own, yet it's also connected with all the worlds that came before it, as well as the World of the Dead and the afterlife in the moon. The gap has always been bridged, we just need to find the will to realize it. Before this world's creation was conceived, I had already called those who had died to become a part of me, a star in the sky, or…"

The Goddess of Death then punched the ground with her right hoof, and the ground began to rumble.

"...one with the earth."

When the shaking ceased, a massive horde of spirits began to rise from the graves in the cemetery...only to start melting. The others saw the Goddess of Death chanting a spell that was causing them to liquify and became mortified.

"STOP!" they shouted. "Do you realize what you're doing?!"

"Relax," replied the Goddess of Death when she finished chanting, "I haven't done them any harm. I've conversed with every single one of these souls in the sky and in this cemetery, made friendship with them all. They will eventually become one with me at the end of it all, but for now, I need their help to get uncompliant subjects back on the right track. You, my friends, are a shining example of such subjects…"

"Subjects?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We're not your flunkeys! Stop fooling yourself!"

"We ain't gonna comply with whatever the hay you're tryin' to do, and we never will!" Applejack yelled. "So there!"

"I am not asking for you to comply…" the Goddess of Death said as she began to take off her robe.

It was then that Maud Pie looked up at the stars in the sky again, and saw them growing brighter. Upon also noticing the now-liquid spirits merging together into a massive mass of liquid and the opening to the graveyard becoming blocked off by all the gates of the graveyard becoming giant, blue, magical barriers, she realized what the Goddess of Death was trying to do.

"Oh shit…" she thought to herself as she began to transform into a being of pitch-black, yet transparent shadow.

"I am asking for you…" the Goddess of Death continued as she threw off the robe and revealed her face. "...to die."

Everyone saw that the Goddess of Death was actually...

"EVERYONE, TAKE COVER." Maud shouted apathetically as she ran towards the others, leaped in the air, and fully transformed into shadow to wrap them in a shield.

Very shortly after Maud covered the ponies with the shadow shield, lasers from all across the sky were fired, and the mass of liquid that the spirits from the grave had melted into had begun to flood the place, bringing the tombstones with it as it rose up. The shadow shield kept the ponies afloat on the giant spirit pool that would've drowned them. Try as they might, the stars could not break through Maud's shield and stopped firing with a need to recharge.

After the ceasefire, Maud Pie lowered the shadow shield, reshaping it into a platform for them to stand on. The Goddess of Death was now flapping her wings in the air and panting after expending a large amount of magical energy on the assault, tiring out and trying to catch her breath.

"I know what you were trying to do now…" Maud said. "You were just pretending to take the battle slow, talking and using your big reveal to distract us so you could easily eliminate us all with one big move. Unfortunately for you, I'm legitimately taking this battle slow, only rushing into action when necessary. I fully expected you to counter that first swing I was going to make, but I tried anyways and didn't try to attack after that because I wanted to see your way of fighting. Now that I know your battle style, I can make an effective counterattack."

"Ha ha ha…" the Goddess of Death laughed. "I like the way you're talking, Maud. You're really getting into this whole thing, aren't you?"

"I've been fully immersed in this little tale from the start, Luna." Maud replied. "Though to be honest, I still find it kind of weird calling you the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna."

The Goddess of Death, Prince Luna's identity has been fully revealed!

Question #3: Did Twilight CON the riddler in her dream?

 _A. Yes_

 _B. No_

 _Yes_

Twilight began to chuckle to herself. Luna took notice.

"Do you find something funny about this, Twilight?" Luna asked in irritation, remembering what happened in Twilight's dream.

"So, did you have fun getting out of my dreamscape on your own?" Twilight asked cheekily. "Or did the stars aid in your escape again?"

"Oh come on, really?" Luna replied. "I'm PRINCE Luna, a human clone of the real Princess Luna. Also, the version of me Rarity and Discord created for this universe never was Nightmare Moon...oh shit..."

With that, Twilight began laughing.

Luna began sobbing.

The others began pondering what was going on more than ever.

Maud began staring apathetically.

 _Rarity and Discord began wondering why they wrote this scene. Way to spoil a really big plot twist, don't you think?_

 _No_

"Why Princess Luna…?" Twilight's friends asked as they sobbed. "Why are you, of all ponies, the Goddess of Death?!"

"It's Prince Luna," replied Luna with a grin on her face, "mind you. And the reason I became the Goddess of Death was simply because it was my responsibility as a creator of this world. Someone had to maintain the death that goes on in this world. Everypony has to die when their time comes. If I hadn't taken the role, somepony else would've had to. I feel it's only noble of me to bear the burden."

"Oh, that's so kind of you!" Rainbow Dash shouted sarcastically.

"If yer really just doing your job, then why did you kidnap Spike?!" Applejack asked angrily. "Why are you trying to kill us even though our times haven't come?!"

"I don't understand you!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "What are you trying to achieve?!"

"Eternal peace, of course." Prince Luna answered. "Once I've assimilated you all, I'll be one step closer to my goal of becoming one with everyone. And once I've achieved full assimilation with everyone, I'll finally be able to make everyone happy...forever."

"..." everypony else remained silent, not knowing how to respond.

"I love all of you, my subjects." Luna said wholeheartedly. "I only wish for us all to live together in perfect harmony."

With those words, Twilight Sparkle shuddered, feeling like she had heard those words from somewhere before…

The others, focused on Luna, didn't notice Twilight's nervous reaction. Maud Pie, however, noticed the others embraced in thought about how to take in all of this, and knew that she had to say something…

"I know what you are all thinking." she told them. "And yes, she does mean all that. This Luna is not completely evil, in fact, she has a lot of good in her. As her friend, and fellow god, I know."

"?!" Twilight and her friends went in shock. "Wait Maud, you're a goddess too?!"

"God." Maud corrected them in her reply. "Yes, I'm the God of War. It's a title I'm not too proud of, so I'd like to get off that subject, thank you."

"Okay, but…" the others said back. "Maud, you're a good god, right?"

"I can say my intentions for the universe are good," replied Maud, "but sadly, that doesn't make me a "good god". I'm not "good" or "bad". Neither is Luna or our three superiors. We just do good, evil, and neutral things that we think will benefit the universe and its inhabitants, swearing allegiance naught to good, evil, or neutrality, but a mix of all three."

"Wait, wait, wait." Rainbow Dash intervened. "Now I'm really lost. Is Luna really a bad guy, or not?"

"Is she...just one of them villains we're supposed to feel sorry for in the end?" Applejack asked in puzzlement.

Luna, who had been overhearing this entire conversation while flying just a little ways away from the group in air, sighed as she began charging up a laser blast with her horn, some of her magic power having returned.

"Maybe she's like a rival character who's not really evil, but acts like a jerk even though deep down inside, she has good intentions!" Pinkie proclaimed. "Or maybe, she's a supervillain who borders on being an antihero after gradually getting less evil as the-"

Pinkie Pie was interrupted by a laser beam from Luna's horn being shot at her and Maud reestablishing the shadow shield to block it.

"Or maybe…" Luna said in frustration. "There are just no bad guys or good guys, like Maud was hinting at. Quit standing around and talking, either fight me or surrender."

Immediately upon hearing that, Maud took off her red coat and unveiled the sides of it, revealing an assortment of guns.

"The first option works well enough for me." Maud said. "We'll talk later, guys. For now, we fight."

Maud showed the gun collection in her coat to the others and laid it down on the shadow shield floor.

"These are supernatural guns, capable of wounding spiritual beings just like my sword." Maud explained. "Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow, choose your weapons. Once you each have a gun, I want you to take aim at the sky and get rid of as many of those soul stars as possible. Pinkie, you come with me. I'm going to need you to help me close in on the Goddess of Death and finish her. To do that though, we're both going to have to be in our true form…"

"Okay…" Pinkie nervously agreed, knowing she had no choice.

As Maud went over her strategy with Pinkie, Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow each selected the gun they wanted from Maud's coat. Rainbow had chosen a pair of submachine guns, Applejack had chosen a magnum, and Twilight had chosen a simple pistol, with an end that was shaped like a gatling gun of course. They were somewhat surprised to find that the guns felt fairly heavy, considering that Maud was carrying at least fifty of them on her back along with a sword. She must be strong, being a god...

"By the way," said Maud after she was done talking to Pinkie, "feel free to fire those guns at liberty. They never run out of ammo, the bullets they shoot are created by magic. Also, you don't need to take out all of the soul stars, just enough to make it easier for Pinkie and I. Are you ready?"

"Yeah…" Twilight answered. "But just asking, what are you and Pinkie planning to do? What did you mean by "true form"?"

Maud smirked in response.

"You're really enjoying playing along with this too, aren't you?" she replied. "Regardless, you'll know when you see it…"

With that, Maud finally lowered the shadow shield again and turned it back into a platform. After chanting something as she held her front hooves to her face, she slammed them down and expanded the shadow platform to cover the entire flood. Now, everywhere in the cemetery was safe to walk on.

"This will cost me energy…" Maud thought to herself. "But I should have enough time…"

"Everyone, let's go." Maud cried.

"Right!" Pinkie said as she transformed into a demon with a body made of cake, with hot, pink frosting dripping off her. She got behind Maud as they both started running towards Luna. Luna tried to shoot them with lasers from her horn, but Maud and Pinkie evaded them. Worried, Luna flew farther back away from the two.

"Damn it!" Luna exclaimed as she looked up at her subjects in the sky. "Please, help me! Shoot them!"

The stars, having fully recharged now, got ready to fire at Maud and Pinkie, but were disrupted by Applejack, Rainbow, and Twilight firing their guns up at the sky. The combination of a multitude of magic machine bullets, magnum bullets, and gatling gun bullets quickly got rid of over half of the stars above the cemetery. Luna saw all the wounded star souls falling out of the sky, bleeding ectoplasm and blood as they fell onto the shadow platform below, and was mortified.

"My children…" she said with tears in her eyes. "My children are hurting each other…"

It was then that Maud and Pinkie had gotten close enough to Luna, and using her back legs, Maud thrusted her back hooves into Pinkie's chest and hurled her up at Luna. Pinkie clutched Luna tight and pressed her hot frosting coat against her. Luna cringed in pain as she felt the intense heat.

"AAAGGGHHH!" Luna cried. "You...can harm me too?"

"Yup," replied Pinkie, "Maud didn't just help me control my inner demon, she also helped me discover how to harm spiritual beings. The sword that she carries can also imbue other beings and even things with the power to effect spiritual matter. That's how she enhanced those guns. Maud never planned to defeat you on her own. She wanted us to work together as a team. She wanted us to know that she's our friend."

"But-" Luna began before she was cut off by being stabbed in the back with a sword by Maud. In pain, Luna stopped flying and fell to the ground along with Maud and Pinkie. Because of their powers, none of them were hurt by the landing, but Luna was writhing in agony from both the wound in her back and something else Maud had stabbed...

Maud slowly pulled her saber out of Luna's body, revealing a white book with a black star on it on the end of the blade. Upon catching sight of the book, Twilight became surprised by how much it resembled her book.

"What have you done…?" Luna said in pain as she saw Maud getting ready to pull the book off the blade. "Stop...NO!"

Maud ignored Luna and pulled the book off the blade. With that, a hole with light shooting out of it was created in both the book and in Luna's chest.

"AAAWWWAAAGGGHH!" Luna screamed as she clutched the hole in her chest.

She continued to scream and clutch the hole in her chest for about twenty seconds as Maud just stared at her dully. Finally, Maud got tired of watching said scene and just stuffed the book in Pinkie's cake frosting, which ruined all the pages in the book, causing Luna to explode in a mess of blood and ectoplasm. All the souls that had compromised her body split apart and flew away in all directions, with the exception of one. This soul hovered over to our heroes and began to transform into a familiar figure with yellow fur and pink hair. Twilight and her friends gasped as this spirit manifested into...

"Fluttershy?!" Twilight and her friends exclaimed in shock.

"Oh my," said Fluttershy's ghost, "did I startle you guys? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Yup, that's Fluttershy." Rainbow said with a smile.

"Oh Fluttershy!" Twilight squealed with delight as she hugged a surprisingly tangible Fluttershy tightly. "I knew it! That was your voice I heard earlier! Oh, I'm so glad to see you again!"

"I'm…" Fluttershy replied, feeling mixed emotions from Twilight's near-suffocating hug. "...happy that you care so much Twilight, but...I've only been gone for four days."

"Gone?!" Pinkie shouted. "Is that what you call it?! You were dead! For four days! I had to plan a reunion party for when I got to see you again in heaven!"

"You...know when you're gonna die?" Applejack asked, feeling slightly creeped out.

"You seem...awfully nonchalant about the fact that you died, Fluttershy." Rainbow said with a confused look on her face.

"Well yeah," replied Fluttershy, "I don't see what the big deal is. This is only the fourth time I've died at least."

"WHAT?!" Twilight and her friends cried in understandable shock.

"Yeah…" Fluttershy said. "You see, I'm actually a god. The God of Life, to be exact. I'm immortal now, even without the phoenix feather I used to have. All the versions of me that have died throughout the tales of the Dark Sky were just different incarnations of me. They may be mortal, but even though I am them, I am also still my eternal self, my true self, in the Immortal World."

Twilight Sparkle and her friends just looked at Fluttershy with absolutely dumbfounded stares… Maud Pie, on the other hand, just pulled a plastic bag of marshmallows out of her fur pocket as Fluttershy looked over at her in confusion.

"Why are they so…" Fluttershy began to ask. "...astonished to hear this? I thought I asked you to tell them about who I really was as soon as you met them."

"I'm sorry sir," apologized Maud as she poured a good amount of marshmallows on her left hoof, "but I could not find an appropriate time to deliver said information. We were busy taking care of an unexpected threat, the Goddess of Death, who had so rudely imprisoned the soul of your incarnation in this world. I do expect and deserve whatever punishment you wish to give me, however."

"Oh no," replied Fluttershy, "it's no big deal. I should've made this incarnation of me stronger. I just wanted to conserve my power for maintaining life in this world and the Immortal World, making sure all the animals, plants, and ponies are happy, even with all the mayhem that goes on in it. Also, inside the Goddess of Death, I overheard all the conversations you had with Luna, and wow. You saved me some time by telling them about your godship and our agenda."

"So…" the others thought. "Fluttershy...is one of the three superiors Maud has, apparently. I guess that's...one new thing we know…"

Maud put the marshmallow lot in her mouth and started chewing the food before looking back at the others and noticing they still looked very puzzled. Sighing, she turned back to Fluttershy, who started giggling.

"Don't worry," said Fluttershy with a cheeky smile, "everything will be explained...so long as they come with me to the Immortal World, a place where everyone is immortal…"

Fluttershy made a hoofsnap with her right hoof and a swirling, yellow and pink portal appeared behind her. Looking at Twilight and her friends and still smiling, she said…

"If you want to know the reason why you are here, you will have to trust me and follow me…"

"..." Twilight and her friends went, realizing they didn't have much of a choice here...granted that they truly cared about unraveling this mystery of what their creation was about.

"I'm not forcing you to come with me," said Fluttershy, "but come now, could you really ignore such a chance?"

 _Decision #6: Should Twilight and her friends go with Fluttershy straight away or not?_

 _A. Follow Fluttershy to the Immortal World_

 _B. Decline for the time being_

End of Part Four.

"So, that's the end of the fourth chapter!" Boss exclaimed. "So, how did you all like it?"

"This story is continuing to get better," said Dumb-bell, "I do like the effort that went into that fight scene. I still don't get the direction this story is going in though."

"Yeah," said Hoops in turn, "I also appreciate the effort and how you allowed the option of us appearing as an Easter Egg, but I still don't see what this story's primary objective is. Is it supposed to make us laugh, feel, or think deeper about the horrors of the world around us as we laugh at it?"

"..." Score commented in a similar manner silently.

"..." Ghost Rainbow Dash commented, with no intent to be silent. "I-I don't even know what to say anymore. This story is simply magical. It attempts to combine comedy, drama, and horror into one story, and not only fails at mixing them together, but also fails at being good in the area of any of them. This story isn't funny, sad, or scary. The jokes are lame, the serious scenes are corny, and the scary scenes are laughably stupid. Even calling this story "so bad, it's scary" is being generous. It's so bad, it's pathetic."

"I know exactly what to say anymore!" Derpy shouted. "This story is supernaturally wonderful! It's a parody of all those genres of stories, it's supposed to be "lame", "corny", and "laughably stupid"! And despite being a parody, it even knows that there's a time to be serious and tries to inspire us with deep, subtle messages!"

"Glad to see G.R.D. loved it the most!" Boss exclaimed.

Clue #4: On herself for


	8. Chapter 4-A1 Serial Killer

"It was a gray and cloudy day." Maud Pie began the tale of the serial killer. "A serial killer was in a town. The serial killer was a twenty-year old woman named Myra Michaels. The town was a big place of about 2,000 people, and about 1,200 men. They all died. She killed them. She cut off the penises of all the men and added them to her collection. She had tens of thousands. They were all penises."

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all had blank expressions on their faces.

"Is...that it?" Applejack asked.

"Disregarding the prequel," replied Maud, "where we learn that Myra used to be a sweet girl who had her heart corrupted by a demon, and the sequel where she changed her ways, that's about all I have to tell."

"Ha ha!" Rainbow Dash guffawed. "That was it?! I'll give you credit for surprising me, but you'll have to do way better than that to scare me!"

"I'm...more confused than anything." Pinkie Pie said. "Were...you trying to convince them of-"

"You all seem convinced that I'm finished…" Maud intervened. "But I'm only done with what I have to tell. Now, it's time for me to start what I have to do. It is time for the baptism to commence..."

Maud Pie then pulled her sword out of the sheath, and again, the cross on the hilt started glowing. After muttering something incomprehensible under her breath and making a swipe with her left front leg, the campfire went out and the entire room became dark.

"Wait...what's going on here?" Applejack asked nervously.

"Oh come on," said Dash bemusedly, "I figured out that you were just using that baptism schtick as a diversion back at the castle. I know you're just trying to scare-"

Rainbow Dash was interrupted upon feeling Maud Pie's sword enter her stomach. Soon after, she felt her body being stacked upon Applejack. Both of them had been impaled by Maud's sword, but they were not dead or even wounded. However, they both felt an unfamiliar feeling deep inside themselves, and deep inside them, voices could be heard…

"SO THESE ARE THE SOULS OF MYRA'S NEW COMRADES." a mixture of all sorts of voices said. "LET US TAKE REFUGE IN THEM AS MYRA ASKED."

With that, Applejack and Rainbow screamed as their minds became flooded with memories of people being killed and butchered by a woman with long black hair and a saber that had a familiar silver blade with the initials "M.M." engraved on it, but no golden cross-shaped hilt. Their shrieks soon began to quell however when they started seeing memories of the woman speaking to a blonde-haired man with a white robe and a staff.

"Is it finished?" the woman asked.

"Yes," replied the man as he handed the sword Applejack and Rainbow had just seen be used for murder moments ago over to the woman, "it is done. Now that your heart has changed and amends with those you have wronged have been made, I trust that you will be able to do great things with this sword. The blade may not be able to avoid conflict entirely, but the hilt will give you what you need to avoid senseless violence. You've done very well, Myra."

Myra looked upon the sword and even though she was wearing a straight face...she shed tears.

"Thank you, Loki…" she said.

After that, Applejack and Rainbow Dash stopped seeing memories. Maud Pie had drawn her sword out of their bodies and the flames in the fireplace had been rekindled. Still in a state of shock, Applejack and Rainbow trembled as they looked at Maud's face.

"Those...those weren't hallucinations…" they both thought fearfully. "I felt not just her sword enter my body...but also, the essences of others...become entwined with my very being! Memories of their names, their lives, what they felt...and I still feel them inside me now...how is this possible?!"

"Yes, you fear the serial killer now…" Maud said. "Because you know now that she exists. The only things we fear are things that are real...or at least, things we perceive as real. Most of us stop fearing the dark as we become older, because we learn that our perception of the dark wasn't real. But not fearing darkness at all is a huge mistake, because being lured into such a false sense of security..."

As Maud Pie paused, Pinkie Pie could feel her aura change to a familiar state, and became surprised.

"No way…" Pinkie thought. "She's even going to show them…"

With a blinding flash of light, Maud transformed into a demon. Her entire body transformed into pitch-dark shadow...that was also transparent. Even in the blackest darkness that was in her chest, Applejack and Rainbow could see their reflections, as well as lights gliding across the shadow.

"Is all part of the darkness' plan." Maud Pie continued. "It doesn't seek out young children, it seeks out grown-up children who have relaxed their guard..."

"Are you...really Maud Pie?" Applejack asked with a gulp.

"Are you...really on our side?" Rainbow asked with sweat trickling down with her face.

In response, Maud grinned as she came closer to Applejack and Rainbow…

...only to change back to normal.

"That will be revealed," said Maud cheekily, "in the sequel. Coming soon. Hope my story wasn't too scary for you guys…"


	9. Chapter 4-B1 RD's Ghost

"It was a bright and starry night." Maud Pie began the story of the ghost of Rainbow Dash. "Pinkie Pie had offered to play a game with one of her best friends, Rainbow Dash. It was a game involving making cupcakes. Rainbow Dash didn't want to play. She left to practice her flying moves at Ghastly Gorge instead. However, she got careless. A Quarray Eel ripped her to shreds and ate her. She died. Her soul left the remnants of her body. She haunts not the gorge, but the universe and everywhere she goes to this day."

Pinkie Pie and Applejack were astonished upon hearing this tale, while Rainbow Dash laughed.

"Are you even being serious?" she asked with a cocky grin on her face. "That obviously didn't happen! I'm alive! I'm sitting right here with a body that ain't dead and buried! I do find it cute though that you made me the ghost, that would be…"

Rainbow Dash paused, and as she thought things over, her smile faded.

"So like me to…" Rainbow Dash continued. "Not let death stop me…"

Pinkie and Applejack looked over at Rainbow in puzzlement, then turned back to Maud, who had her own smug grin plastered on her face.

"My story isn't over yet…" Maud said. "I'm only at the part where things get good…"

With that, a mist familiar to Rainbow began to flood the room, and a memory erased from her mind, but not from her heart, was stirred…

"Why am I remembering this?!" Rainbow bellowed in her thoughts as memories of being killed by the Quarray Eel, performing with the Dark Sky and Fluttershy, and fighting alongside the Dark Sky against robot alicorns and a shadow dragon were awakened in her mind. "This...NONE OF THIS HAPPENED! IT COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE HAPPENED! I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING BEFORE..."

Rainbow Dash put her hooves up to her head and screamed.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" Applejack asked with concern, coming closer to Dash.

"Maud, what are you doing?" Pinkie asked. "You don't need to summon them to prove yourself!"

"But I like proving myself." Maud replied. "After all, I'm only what you think of me before I prove myself…"

Following that, Maud began muttering the following words to herself…

"Dark Sky...Body, Mind, Soul...Assemble."

It was then that the shroud of mist surrounding the living room materialized into the Dark Sky members, Dumb-bell, Hoops, Score, Ghost Rainbow Dash, and Derpy Hooves. They all began looking around the room curiously.

"So we're in Boss' story now…" Dumb-bell said. "This feels weird."

"Hey," remarked Hoops, "it's not like it's our first time being characters in a tale written by the Powers That Be."

"..." Score recapped all the other times silently.

"Woah," said Ghost Rainbow Dash, "too much information, bro. I don't even remember that one where Hoops was a British gangster."

"No way…" Rainbow Dash thought. "This feeling I'm getting from her too...her essence...she is me…"

"I don't even remember breakfast." Derpy said with a sigh.

"Well to be fair," replied Dumb-bell, "that's perfectly natural because we didn't order breakfast in that one tale where we were at the diner."

"How do you remember things like that?" G.R.D. asked. "I can barely recall the last time I breathed."

"That's…" Dumb-bell said with a pause as he took G.R.D.'s ghostly state into account. "...also perfectly natural."

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were...marveled by these mysterious entities, to put it mildly. Like you'd expect, it didn't take long for the Dark Sky members to take note of them.

"So you're the guys Myra-a-ah..." Dumb-bell paused and stuttered before correcting himself. "I mean, Maud Pie told us about."

"Allow him to introduce ourselves." Hoops said, pointing to Score.

"..." Score silently established their names and the essential parts of their backstories to the trio.

"So yeah, that's the story." G.R.D. concluded the exposition, happy to have it over with. "I hope it didn't turn your worlds upside-down or anything."

"Our worlds?" Rainbow asked. "What about our lives? If what you say is true, that means I'm dead! What, are you a magic clone of me? A parallel counterpart of me from another world? Tell me!"

G.R.D., hating having to explain things and having been told not to reveal certain details, became frustrated.

"So this poser is the incarnation of me Boss wrote…" Ghost Rainbow Dash said to the still shocked Rainbow Dash, whom she perceived as acting emo. "I'm not impressed. You don't even look anything like me! You look like Mr. Blue Sky after he ate too many Tropical Starbursts!"

Rainbow Dash, in response, put on a scowl as her confusion and dread turned to irritation.

"What does that even mean?!" Rainbow exclaimed angrily. "Who are you?!"

"Uh…" replied G.R.D. bemusedly, "Score just gave all of us an entire introduction and you rudely ask me who I am?! Dude...FAIL."

Rainbow Dash began to blow smoke out of her nose in rage.

"QUIT SMARTMOUTHING ME, YOU ECTOPLASM SACK WITH WINGS!" she bellowed furiously. "THIS IS SERIOUS! I WANT TO KNOW WHO I AM! AM I DEAD OR ALIVE?!"

"Woah," responded G.R.D., "just take it easy, man. You're alive. You may have the same body (or at least the same body I once had), mind, and soul as me, but we're not the exact same entity. It's as simple as that."

"...WHAT?!" Rainbow shrieked. "YOU DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE!"

"That's what they all say…" G.R.D. said with a sigh. "Don't worry, Boss herself wrote for you to be alive. Even Boss' superiors wanted you to be alive in this story."

"What do you mean, "wrote"?!" Rainbow shouted, still not satisfied. "Why do you keep saying that? Who is this "Boss"?"

"Someone you don't know, yet have always known," said Ghost Rainbow Dash, reading off of a card on top of a stack of cards, "that is the riddle I'm supposed to tell you. Can we please go home now, Maud?"

"Sure," replied Maud Pie, "you've done your part. I can tell that you really enjoyed playing a key role, Ghost Rainbow Dash."

G.R.D. just rolled her eyes as she put away her cards, knowing this wasn't something worth debating over. After Maud put her hooves together and made a chant, the Dark Sky members turned to mist and disappeared.

"Wai-" Rainbow Dash paused as she realized it was hopeless. They were gone.

"Maud, who in tarnation were those guys?!" Applejack yelled. "How did they know you? How much have you been hiding from us?!"

Maud was still grinning as she pulled out her sword, the cross on the end of it glowing again.

"I'm going to show you exactly how much…" she said sinisterly.

Applejack got a look of fear on her face, and soon realized what Maud meant by that when she stabbed her in the stomach with her saber. To Applejack's shock, the blade did not harm her. Instead, her mind became filled with Maud Pie's memories combined with her own mysteriously few memories as she felt like spirits were invading her soul. After a while, Maud pulled the sword out of her stomach, and the physically unwounded but mentally scarred Applejack looked at her and said…

"No...you're not…"

"Yes...you are…" Maud replied.

"...Am I?" Applejack thought. "My own memories...I don't remember anything from before learning about what happened to Fluttershy...I've just...always known that I'm Applejack and her and the others are my friends…could I...could we all...be like Maud?"


	10. Chapter 4-A2 Follow Fluttershy

Twilight Sparkle and her friends thought it over and realized that the most important thing to them right now was finding out their true purpose. They could not turn down an opportunity like this, especially not from a friend, even if this friend was behaving oddly to them.

"Alright…" Twilight said. "Please, take us to the Immortal World!"

"I knew that you would say yes…" Fluttershy responded. "Come Maud, please follow me into the portal along with the others..."

Fluttershy went through the portal with Maud following behind her. Trailing right behind, the others looked at the portal before going in. Despite a few doubts lingering in their minds about the possibility of this being part of an elaborate ruse, they had to push that aside for now. After all, the only purpose they knew right now was finding their purpose…

Twilight and their friends soon passed through the portal, and with a blinding flash of pink and yellow light, they left the Mortal World behind them…


	11. Chapter 4-B2 Decline & Stay

Twilight Sparkle and her friends thought things through and realized that while learning about the purpose of their creation meant a lot to them, they still had important matters to attend to in the Mortal World.

"Sorry Fluttershy," said Twilight, "but for now, our answer is no. We have some things we need to take care of in this world first."

After hearing that, Fluttershy's smile stayed.

"Alright," she replied, "go take care of what you need to do. The portal will always be open for you. But just warning you, during your fight with the Goddess of Death, she sent out four spirits to haunt the land of Equestria."

"What?" Twilight and her friends asked.

"Yes," responded Fluttershy, "that's why she distracted you with that conversation. When Luna adds a soul to her body, it loses its own consciousness and becomes a part of her. Basically, they're asleep until woken up and commanded to do something. And no, the Goddess of Death couldn't have commanded me during the battle, I wouldn't allow it. Even though I'm just a mortal incarnation, I still have the God of Life's will within me. I can not be controlled by another god unless I allow myself to be manipulated. However, all of the souls that comprise Prince Luna's body still know her experiences and intentions as they sleep inside of her. Alive as her, but not alive as themselves. Assimilated by her as well, I knew everything. She had everything in that battle planned from the beginning."

"Even her…" Twilight started to ask. "...defeat? Could it be?"

"But don't worry," said Fluttershy abruptly, "the souls that left Prince Luna's body upon her defeat are of no threat. They shall do no harm as ghosts, for I, the God of Life, shall provide them with new lives. I may not be able to resurrect them, but I can at least reincarnate them. Unfortunately, the four souls the Goddess of Death sent out before her defeat are different. They're still alive as themselves and desire to do her will. Even if I gave them new life, that would not make them any less dangerous..."

"Oh come on," said Rainbow Dash, "you make it sound like these guys are a threat! Didn't you see us take out all those soul stars? We're perfectly capable of handling just four of Luna's cronies!"

"I'm not so sure…" Fluttershy replied. "I felt the aura of the four souls Luna sent...it was far more dark and powerful than the aura I felt from any of the other souls inside Luna's body. As the God of Life, I could see the lives they had lived...and all of their lives ended with them being killed by the Goddess of Death herself. I could sense that Luna had a special connection to them…"

"Please…" Twilight intervened. "Stop calling her Luna. Call her Prince Luna, ridiculous as it sounds. I don't want to hear Princess Luna's name being associated with that kind of thing. The Princess Luna we know would never have done any of this."

"Sorry…" Fluttershy apologized, despite feeling that Twilight was being overly sensitive. "Anyways, just please take care. Try to avoid conflict with those souls if you end up meeting them. They're not a laughing matter."

Soon after the conversation ended, Twilight Sparkle and her friends left the cemetery.

"So…" Rainbow Dash said. "What exactly are we going to take care of before going through that portal? Say goodbye to all our friends? I don't feel that's going to work out too well..."

"I can't imagine telling my family," chimed in Applejack, " "Bye y'all! I'm off to another world to find the meaning of my existence! See ya next Tuesday!""

"Yeah," said Pinkie Pie, "now that I think about it more deeply, I think we would be being cruel to be kind by NOT telling them what's going on. Imagine what everypony would think of us if we told them that we had to kill a human clone of Princess Luna who was also this world's Grim Reaper!"

Twilight breathed in, getting ready to give a response about how ridiculous what Pinkie just said was until she realized…

"...We killed what was thought to be Princess Luna...and there's no way anyone will believe our story...WE'RE FINISHED!"

Everypony began to panic until Maud pulled out her sword and slammed the side of the blade against the graveyard gates. The sound created by the blade clashing against the gate got the attention of the others.

"Settle down." Maud said. "I knew something like this was going to happen, and I have everything under control. I have friends back in the Immortal World who can create another human clone of Princess Luna. I've even scheduled a willing participant from the human world to become the new Princess Luna. Also, with no witnesses or even a corpse left, there's no way you could be convicted for this. Take it from me, I'm with the police."

"You'd…" Twilight responded. "You'd cover for our crime?"

"What, was I pushing rocks over daisies the whole time?" Maud asked sarcastically. "I'm the one who "killed" her ultimately. In fact, you, Applejack, and Rainbow didn't help with the actual "killing" at all. I know you're trying to be nice by taking the blame, but being self-righteous like that can actually make you come across as arrogant."

"..." Twilight and the others thought it over. Had they really done anything that bad? They were just trying to defend themselves from someone who kidnapped their friend and tried to kill them.

"Listen," said Maud, "there was a time in my life where I committed atrocity upon atrocity. I've done more evil than you ever need to know in all your existences combined. That's why I absolutely can't stand it when I see others feel guilty for things they really couldn't have avoided being dragged into. Please, let me take the blame for this. I'm your new friend after all. Isn't sharing the blame what friends do?"

Twilight and the others felt...touched. They truly were starting to feel at this point that this Maud Pie really did care about them.

However, that aside…

"We're admired by your nobility Maud," replied Twilight, "but...what did you mean by "killed"? The Goddess of Death is dead...right?"

"Dead in a loose sense of the word." Maud explained. "She's gone from this world for now, but her superiors in the Immortal World will bring her back. She's a creator of this world with a crucial role in maintaining it, there's no way they'll just leave her dead."

"WHAT?!" everypony else shouted. "You mean she can't die?! What's the point of bringing another Princess Luna clone to this world, then?! Everyone will find out she's not real when they see Prince Luna again!"

"Oh, there's a point to it," replied Maud. "if only a minor one. It was an order from my superiors not to bring the Princess Luna human clone to this world until after the Goddess of Death died because it's only in a certain ending of the story much later on where she's needed."

"Wha-who does that?!" Twilight yelled. "Ugh! This sucks! As long as the Goddess of Death is alive, we won't be able to live here! She wants to kill us and she's willing to drag our friends into it on top of it! Now we have no choice but to go to the Immortal World! We can't let those guys bring her back!"

"I'm sure we'll figure something out…" Maud said somewhat jokingly, remembering that she was friends with the Goddess of Death and had the same superiors as her. "But for now, isn't there something you wanted to do?"

"Besides asking about what the fuck the human world is," replied Twilight, "yeah, there is something I wanted to do. I wanted to visit Spike one last time."

"And I wanted to plan a "Sorry for Leaving Without Telling You" party for everypony for when we get back." Pinkie chimed in.

"I wanted to make some _apple_ cider as a parting present for my family." Applejack said.

"I wanted to buy some of the Apple family's latest cider for the road." Rainbow said. "I hope it's the _rainbow_ edition if you know what I mean."

"Those all sound like desirable things." Maud apathetically stated the obvious. "Please go do that stuff without getting in an undesirable situation with Prince Luna's four souls."

"Whatever, Dad." Rainbow snarked. "We promise we won't catch soul fever."

With that, Twilight Sparkle teleported back to her castle as the others went on their merry way to where they wanted to go. Upon arriving home, however, Twilight did not immediately check on Spike. Instead, she went to her bedroom to look at a familiar book…the black one with the white star...

*THUMP* *FLAP* *FLAP*

Throwing the book with the magically appearing page onto her desk, she flipped through the pages and turned to her page of interest...the page detailing the defeat of the Goddess of Death. Looking upon the page and reading it, she smirked.

"Good acting." she told herself. "Only Maud so far has seen through your ruse."

"It was nothing," replied Twilight's apparent other personality, "though I feel kind of bad about deceiving our friends."

"Bad?" Twilight asked. "What's so bad about lying to them for their own good? Do you have any idea how shocked they would be if they found out what we were doing? They wouldn't be able to understand that we're just trying to help them…"

"That's true…" Twilight's personality said back. "Ever since Fluttershy died, nothing has been the same. I have to do what those gods tell me to do for the sake of the world...for the sake of our friendship…"

"I know," replied Twilight, "thanks to them, we now know who killed Fluttershy...and who hired the one who killed her…"

With that, followed by the sound of a quill writing on paper, a loud noise could be heard from the library…

"HELLO EQUESTRIA," echoed a loud voice, "HOW IS EVERYONE THIS EVENING?"

Not recognizing the voice, Twilight rushed to the library in fear, and flinging open the double doors, she was shocked to see Spike out of bed with blue eyes and a microphone in hand.

"ANYONE BEEN SWIMMING LATELY," bellowed Spike through the microphone, "CAUSE I'VE BEEN IN COLD WATER THIS NIGHT! OH WAIT, THAT'S MY BLOOD!"

"Spike!" Twilight yelled. "What in Celestia's holy name are you doing?!"

Spike turned over to Twilight and gave her a menacing grin…

"SPIKE?" he responded. "I'M AFRAID YOU'RE MISTAKEN, MY LOYAL RATINGS NUMBER. THIS IS KEN TUCKE!"

Spike then put the microphone up to his rear end.

"REPORTING LOVE FROM SPIKE THE DRAGON'S BUTTHOLE!" he shouted.

It dawned on Twilight just in time that this really wasn't Spike talking…

*SHING*

Twilight moved to the side just in time to avoid a deadly-sharp spike that shot out of the back of the microphone and had been aimed at her head. Upon seeing the spike hit the wall, Twilight turned back to Spike with a fearful look on her face…

"AND I'M HERE TO KILL YOU." he said.

Twilight screamed as she casted a spell to teleport out of the castle and started running away as fast as she could.

"If Spike is possessed…" she thought to herself as she ran. "And if he's only one of the four souls...then the others must be...OH NO!"

Twilight then teleported to Sweet Apple Acres, where she saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash slowly backing away from Apple Bloom, Big McIntosh, and Granny Smith.

"So this is what's like to be an adult in a kid's body again…" Tree Hugger said as she looked upon Apple Bloom's body, having possessed her.

"Again?" a confused Vinyl Scratch, who had possessed Big McIntosh's body, said back. "This is my first time being a guy, last time I checked. I will say though, this isn't the first time I've gone big. Ha cha cha cha!"

"What's going on here?" Applejack asked. "Apple Bloom, Big Mac, don't you recognize me? I'm your sister!"

"Don't you recognize me?" Rainbow asked. "I'm the one who always helps you make the cider so awesome and smoothly, and then asks you why you never have enough Zap Apples!"

"And I'm the one who always tell her that "Rainbow Mango Orange Smoothie Edition" apple cider just doesn't sell!" Applejack shouted. "It doesn't strike the taste buds the same way! Please, listen to us! We love you!"

"Girls, don't bother!" Twilight exclaimed. "It's useless! Those aren't the Apples! They've been possessed by Prince Luna's four spirits! Spike was possessed by one, and they're possessed by the other three!"

Upon hearing that, Apple Bloom and Big Mac became puzzled.

"Other...three?" Tree said. "Do Octavia and that elderly mare share their existence with each other?"

"Tree and I are the only ones here," explained Vinyl, "Octavia went over to Pinkie's place."

It was then that Twilight noticed that Apple Bloom and Big Mac were the only ones whose eyes were now blue.

"Wait…" Twilight said. "Then, what are you doing with them, Granny Smith?"

"I'm just out here to complain that I wasn't possessed too!" Granny Smith yelled. "I need a life too, you know!"

"Those ghosts have lives?" Dash asked. "Then what do we have?"

"Come on guys, Pinkie's in danger!" Twilight yelled.

Twilight cast a teleportation spell again and warped herself, Applejack, and Rainbow to Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie Pie lived. Making her way to Pinkie's room upstairs, her fears were realized...Pinkie was in her demon form, being attacked by her pet alligator Gummy, whose eyes were blue, having been possessed by Octavia Melody. However, Pinkie didn't seem to share Twilight's fear.

"Oh, stop it Gummy!" Pinkie exclaimed happily. "That tickles!"

An aggravated Octavia-possessed Gummy began chomping at Pinkie's flesh, tearing out her cake frosting while resisting the heat emanating from it. If Pinkie hadn't transformed into a demon, she would have been seriously wounded. Twilight and her friends gasped in horror.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?!" Twilight screamed. "That's not Gummy, that's one of Luna's four souls! Fight it!"

"But this is fun!" Pinkie replied. "Besides, Gummy chews me out like this at dinner all the time! What's wrong with him doing it at dessert? ...Wait a minute, that sounds really wrong. I-I'm sorry."

"Okay…" Twilight said. "If you won't fight it, then I will!"

Twilight began charging up a powerful laser beam in her horn, and fired it at Gummy. Upon being shot by the beam, Gummy fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The others were surprised.

"Twilight…" Pinkie said with a scowl. "I had a way to take care of that problem without hurting Gummy…"

"I don't care!" Twilight abruptly yelled. "These are our lives we're fighting for! If I have to do something like that to save my friends, I'll do it without any hesitation!"

"How quaint…" Octavia intervened, starting to overcome the pain. "Your love for your friends truly is admirable. But that love will be your downfall…"

"Oh please," replied Twilight, "what do you know?"

"I know one thing for a fact," said Octavia, "for starters. It's that your days in this world are history. Even if you kill the ones we have possessed, we won't die. And no matter how much you hurt our spirits, we can always come back and come for your throats. We'll do everything in our power to make your lives UNLIVABLE. We'll make you WANT death."

"You sick monster…" Applejack said in disgust.

"Fine," said Rainbow with a confident grin, "if our days in _this world_ are done, we'll just go to another…"

"Immortal World, here we come, baby!" Pinkie cried in glee.

"Ssh!" Twilight, Applejack, and Dash went. "Pinkie!"

"Oh, sorry." Pinkie apologized, and started talking in a more quiet tone. "Immortal World, here we come baby!"

Twilight and her other friends sighed, not noticing that Octavia was chuckling to herself ominously…

 _Our heroes falling for the classic bad guy threat speech act. Worth a chuckle or two, I believe._

Twilight and her friends returned to the Arc Rising graveyard shortly after. Despite being slightly confused about why their possessed friends had not tried to follow them, they abandoned their suspicions when it came back to mind that they no longer had a choice in this matter, they had to get out of this world. Upon walking into the cemetery, they saw that Fluttershy was still there with Maud Pie at her side.

"Welcome back!" Fluttershy said excitedly. "So, have you had a change of heart?"

"You can say it like that." Twilight replied. "We've realized now that there is no way we can stay in this world as it is. We have to go to the Immortal World and work something out with whoever these "higher-ups" are. We can't let this place fall to the Goddess of Death or her minions!"

"I see," said Fluttershy, "you've made a pragmatic decision. For sure, you will find a way to help this world in the immortal one. Now, let us depart…"

Fluttershy, Maud, and all the others finally entered the swirling portal, and so, the Mortal World was given a farewell…


	12. Chapter 5

The prophecy continues...

 _The sky shall darken for the moon to turn bright_

 _And so the stars shall come awake_

 _That is part of the poem we wrote with the Dark Sky…_

 _Their boss did something that was not right_

 _For the entire universe's sake…_

After Fluttershy, Maud Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Twilight's friends passed through the portal, they arrived in a new area. They were outside of a place that resembled...an amusement park. Twilight and her friends looked around to see a Ferris Wheel, bumper cars, roller coasters, and food stands...that all looked like they were composed of a gelatinous substance. They then looked up at a sign that read, "Jelly Rockets".

"A...carnival?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"Yes," said Fluttershy, "this is one of the Immortal World's biggest attractions, a carnival made entirely out of magic jelly! Long ago, a woman named Myra Michaels brought us an abundant source of her world's highest quality jelly, and with the help of Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord, they transformed it all into an extravagant amusement park! They all agreed that it was the best use the jelly could be put to. After all, jelly born from amusement is best at creating amusement!"

Maud Pie turned her head the other way and let out a sigh.

"I could never apologize enough…" she thought. "I'm just glad that some of the souls inside me are happy that a product of their remnants is making others happy…"

"Born from amusement?" Pinkie thought. "That's weird. I don't think I've ever eaten jelly created by amusement...wait, I amuse ponies all the time...do I create jelly? No, that's ridiculous...or is it?"

"Hold on a second…" Rainbow Dash said. "Did you say...Rarity and Discord?!"

Fluttershy chuckled to herself.

"Indeed I did," she replied, "they're both gods of the Immortal World."

Everypony else besides Maud Pie gasped.

"For real?!" Rainbow shouted.

"I would never say such a thing in jest." Fluttershy replied. "I've even planned for you guys to meet with them if you don't believe me."

"They've been here this whole time?!" Applejack yelled. "Why didn't Rarity tell us?!"

"Yeah," said Pinkie Pie, "I can understand them not saying "Goodbye." after explaining the situation, because that's what we didn't do because it would've been so awkward. But they could've at least given us a "Hello, we're going away to be gods for a bit. See ya."!"

"Are you…" Twilight said in confusion. "Trying to ridicule us as hypocrites or are you...actually being serious?"

"Mhmm…" Pinkie went as she thought to herself. "I guess both."

"Ha ha ha," laughed Fluttershy, "oh you guys, I missed your silliness. Looking at it now, I just have to laugh. Ha hee ho."

With that, Maud Pie turned around and walked several steps away from the group as they looked at Fluttershy oddly.

"...Thanks?" Rainbow said with a slightly unnerved grin.

"No offense Fluttershy," said Applejack, "but that was just awkward."

"Yeah, don't call us all silly!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I should be the only silly one, it's a cross I must bear alone."

Fluttershy's face began to have a frown.

"All we're saying Fluttershy," said Twilight, "is just not to act weird."

"Oh…" Fluttershy replied in a crestfallen tone, feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry. You guys are right. I have been acting weird. I guess it's just that being in the Immortal World so long changed me a bit...I think I should leave you guys alone until I shape up."

Fluttershy began chanting something to herself...

"Huh?" Twilight went. "Fluttershy, wait…"

But before she knew it, Fluttershy turned to shadow and disappeared without a trace. Twilight and the others were, as usual, surprised.

"Woah, Flutter's got stuff." Pinkie complimented.

"Oh boy," said Rainbow bemusedly, "ANOTHER fucking mystery."

"I…" Applejack said with a pause. "...never would've imagined we were THIS out of the loop. All this stuff we never knew...I think we've had enough twists and turns to last us for the rest of our lives."

"INCOMING PLOT TWIST!" Twilight exclaimed jokingly. "These aren't even our first lives! We used to really be Twilight Sparkle and the pony gang before we got reincarnated as humans!"

Everypony besides Maud began to chuckle. Maud was looking over at a familiar grey mare who had overheard the conversation. It was Derpy Hooves. The others, being farther away, didn't notice her.

"Is that...true?" Derpy Hooves asked quietly.

Maud nodded her head to say "Yes.". Derpy gasped.

"I shouldn't find that funny," said Rainbow, "but it's funny because it's true! Ah ha ha!"

Twilight and her friends all laughed as Derpy ran away, shocked by this new information.

"I heard it from two reliable sources and my friend's alter ego…" Derpy thought. "It must be true!"

 _Poor Derpy...she doesn't realize that Rainbow meant that the ridiculous nature of these surprise twists are what's true and that Maud had to lie because she was ordered to. As for Twilight, I think it should be obvious…this is just to provide a way for them to find out part of the truth about her..._

Derpy kept running until she caught sight of her comrades, Dumb-bell, Hoops, Score, and Ghost Rainbow Dash, the other members of the Dark Sky. For the unfamiliar or those who have forgotten, they were the band that Fluttershy led in her first escapade to bring immortality to the world. Though they have had their own personal journeys throughout the stories of the reality god and fantasy god since then (trust me), their current role in this story is unknown. That is, unless, you count the mess they're in right now…

They were at a game stand where ponies would throw balls at jelly targets to win prizes with a sign above it that said "Knock It In N Take 'Em Up!", and Ghost Rainbow Dash was in an argument with some other ponies.

"I don't care whatchu say," said G.R.D., trying to sound cool, "I totally hit that piece o' jelly!"

"Uh, sir…" one of the other ponies, revealed to be a police officer replied. "You do realize you're confessing to sexual harassment, correct?"

Derpy walked up to the gang and wondering what was going on, went up to Hoops.

"What happened?" Derpy asked him. "Why are the police involved in this now? Did that Water Flush guy complain to them that G.R.D.'s attire was too revealing?"

"I wish," replied Hoops, "that way we could at least resolve this easily. Everypony would be able to see the truth…"

Hoops paused as he took note of Derpy's eyes, seeing one of them drifting off to the side.

"Wait a second…" he said.

"All I said that was that I hit his jelly, I never sexual harassmented nobody!" G.R.D. shouted. "I don't even know what that means!"

"Please excuse our friend," intervened Dumb-bell, "she doesn't mean to be offensive to black ponies when she talks like this."

"Oh, that is just grand," said the victim of what G.R.D. did, a blue stallion with cyan and white hair and a British accent, "being politically correct about racism when your friend is clearly a sexist pig!"

"Hey!" G.R.D. yelled. "I am not racist or sexist! I treat everyone the way I want to treat them, regardless of who they are! That is my motto!"

"Oh," replied the victim, "so you also touch everyone else's private parts regardless of who they are? Why, I feel so relieved now! How silly of me to have misjudged you!"

"Now calm down," said the officer, "just be chill, everypony. Now Mr., erm...Water Rinse, is it? Can you please explain what happened again so that we're all on the same page?"

"I was in the men's restroom," explained Water Rinse, talking angrily through his teeth, "when I saw that ghost of a creature with any common decency spying on the stallion in the stall by lurking from above! When I called her out on it and explained to her why her actions were wrong, she just stared at my privates the whole time and at the end of my speech, grabbed them and said, "Is this thing real?"! And then to add more insult to injury, she even slapped and groped my buttocks on my way out and said "Why am I surprised that this feels like flan?" Unacceptable!"

"Hmm…" the officer hummed in thought. "Well, Mrs. Ghost Rainbow Dash, if what he's saying is true, then you have committed a crime. You've already confessed to touching his butt, what do you have to say about the rest?"

"Oh, do I even need to respond to that?" G.R.D. replied. "I didn't even really touch his butt, I just felt the jelly inside of it! It's obvious that I've done nothing wrong…"

"Because that guy is lying!" Hoops intervened. "Derpy here saw everything, and it doesn't match with what you're saying!"

"Huh?" Derpy went as Water and the officer turned to her.

"What, her?" Water Rinse said. "I only didn't bring up the fact that she was in the men's bathroom room too because I thought she was mentally challenged! What testimony could she possibly give that makes mine null and void?"

"Testimony that you've neglected to give!" Hoops yelled. "It just so happens that our friend Derpy has enhanced vision! She could've seen what went on in that bathroom in more accurate detail!"

"I could've?" Derpy asked.

"Yes Derpy, you could-I mean, did!" Hoops exclaimed. "Now answer me! When you were in the bathroom, did you see anypony's legs through the gap under the stall that G.R.D. was floating over?"

"Um...actually, no, I didn't." Derpy answered.

"Wait, where are you going with this…" Water Rinse paused as he realized. "Oh...AGH!"

"Judging from your reaction," said Hoops, "it seems you didn't see any anypony's legs under that stall either! Both your eyes were locked on G.R.D., but one of Derpy's eyes drifted down as she looked up at her! The stall walls and doors are not made of transparent jelly either for privacy purposes, the only way to see if anyone's in there is to look through a gap! With you as the only other witness, your accusation against G.R.D. for peeping doesn't hold water anymore!"

"But she still touched me inappropriately!" Water responded. "I'd love to see your cross-eyed friend testify to the contrary on that!"

"Oh ho…" Hoops chuckled. "For that, we don't even need a witness. A simple logical explanation will suffice…oh, Ghost Rainbow Dash?"

"Hmm?" G.R.D. said in puzzlement as she floated closer to Hoops.

"Could you please reenact the scene in the bathroom?" Hoops requested. "Do exactly what Mr. Rinse claims you did to me, please."

"If you insist, cowboy." G.R.D. replied.

Everypony watched as G.R.D. reached to feel Hoops' privates only for her right hoof to pass through. Water Rinse gulped.

"No…" he said, as he realized he had lost this case.

"Yes…" Hoops said triumphantly. "Our friend here couldn't have touched you as you claim. She's a ghost. She couldn't have grabbed, slapped, or groped you because she can't touch physical matter. Case closed."

"But...I felt her…on the insi-..." Water said despondently. "This can't be…"

"Sorry sir," said the officer, "but the ground for their defense is rock-solid. My work is done here. I suggest in the future, you think the facts through more thoroughly before jumping to conclusions and getting the police involved."

"Uh…but...eh..." Water just stammered as the officer got in his car.

"And no offense, kid…" the officer told Water before he drove away. "But in the place we're at right now, we got much bigger things to worry about than dicks being touched, trust me. It's a crime everyone's guilty of here..."

"Huh?" Water went as the car sped off into the distance. "Wait…"

It was too late, the officer was gone. Knowing that he had been licked, Water knelt his head down in despair. Despite feeling somewhat sorry for him now, the Dark Sky members felt it was best to just leave him alone.

"Come on guys," said Hoops, "I'm bored of playing Phantom Detective. Let's hit some other taco stand…"

The group began to walk away from Water to another part of the amusement park. Making sure he was out of range for both hearing and seeing, G.R.D. asked Hoops something…

"So Hoops...did you keep it a secret that I can touch physical objects if I so choose because you trusted me, or because you just didn't want me to get arrested?"

"Both, obviously." Hoops replied. "Why else would I have asked you to reenact the scene exactly? I knew that you weren't going to lie or fake anything to get out of trouble. Even if what you did was wrong, I knew you would never deny that you did it, because that's not your style. You stay true to your cause no matter what. How can I not trust someone like you?"

"T-thanks Hoops…" G.R.D. said, blushing, but secretly feeling somewhat guilty. She thought to herself…

"I should probably tell him that I was waiting for a stallion to come in that stall...and that I could feel that guy on the inside even with my hoof passing through him...but I think some things are better left unsaid. Not to mention that I think he might already know…"

"Oh...that felt good…" Hoops thought back to when G.R.D. put her hoof through him with a big smile on his face.

"Man, that was unexpected." Derpy thought. "I never would've seen that coming right after I learned about...oh...oh, I forgot! The new twist!"

"Hey guys!" Derpy exclaimed. "There's something I needed to tell you! It's about the story!"

"?" the Dark Sky members went. "What about the story?"

"There's a new plot twist coming up that we weren't told about!" Derpy explained. "It turns out that this world's Twilight Sparkle and friends actually WERE Twilight Sparkle and friends in their previous lives!"

"..." Score expressed astonishment and doubt silently.

"I know," concurred Dumb-bell with Score, "that has to be false. Sorry Derpy, but from what we've been told, that can't be true. Boss said herself that the humans she and her friends used to be never had any prior relation with Twilight, her friends, or Equestria. They can't possibly have past lives as them."

"You don't understand…" Derpy replied. "The one I heard this information from...was Boss."

The other Dark Sky members looked at Derpy in astonishment.

Meanwhile, back with Twilight Sparkle and her friends…

Twilight's friends were asking other ponies around the amusement park if they had seen Fluttershy, Rarity, or Discord and getting results of little help while Twilight turned her back to them and looked at a black book with a white star on it that she had pulled out of her fur pocket with a smirk…

"Soon, my friends…" she said ominously. "I will bring us all together again as friends, never again to be separated by death...this book shall be our legacy recorded for all eternity…"

 _You're doing a great job, Twilight. Discord and I are very proud of you…_

Those words became a voice that only Twilight could hear…

"Oh, thank you so much." Twilight talked back in her mind sarcastically. "I'm honored."

 _Why so sarcastic? Rarity and I are serious...we feel bad about what we're making you do just as much as you...it's a necessary evil, I must say._

"Then why are you always laughing about it and treating it like it's some kind of joke?!" Twilight yelled, still talking in her mind. "If you think it makes you look cute, you're dead wrong! If anything, it makes you look sadistic and totally warped!"

"Hey," replied Fantasy God Discord, making his words known for the first time, "like I always say, if we have to do it, we may as well enjoy it. This, on the other hand, I don't have to do, but I'm doing it just because I enjoy it…"

Twilight didn't realize at the time that by that, he meant that their conversation had left the privacy of Twilight's mind...he had said that for the ponies in the carnival to hear too.

"W-what do you mean…?" Twilight asked, not realizing that she was talking out loud now.

"Oh Twilight…" Ninja Time God Rarity also said out loud with a slick grin. "You'll soon learn to stop pretending to be such a self-righteous hero. Everyone needs to have some evil within them. You'll also soon learn to not smartmouth us. Or else, this will happen…"

"What...what have you done…?" Twilight asked again before she turned around out of curiosity and looked at her friends...and a bunch of other ponies in the carnival who were now staring at her weirdly.

They had heard everything and were now flabbergasted.

"Those voices…" Applejack said. "You were talking to Rarity and Discord…"

"How were you talking with them...and why?" Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously.

"Why are you reading a book?" Pinkie Pie asked a silly, yet legitimate question. "I wanna read a book!"

Twilight couldn't believe this...she was caught so suddenly she didn't even have time to put the book away.

How could this get any worse…?

 _Decision #7: How does it get worse?_

 _A. The Dark Sky members appear_

 _B. Twilight's long lost kids appear_

"So…" one of the figures, a black mare with dark purple hair said. "Those nearsighted goofballs are Mom's lackeys."

"Shall we follow them to the place of numerous reflections and engage in social activity with them?" the other figure, a white stallion with red and blue hair asked.

"Yes..." the black mare replied. "We have some business to settle…about our mother, Twilight Sparkle. We need to talk them about if what Rarity and Discord told us was really true. Whether we really need to kill her or not..."

Meanwhile…

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were trying to give a crying Pinkie Pie comfort.

"Calm down, Pinkie." Applejack said. "You have every right to be upset, but we'll get over this together."

"Together?" Pinkie sobbed. "You mean Twilight really is our friend?"

"I'm sure she had a good reason to lie to us." Rainbow said, trying very hard not to sound sarcastic. "...For two years, apparently."

"I did!" Twilight yelled. "Please believe me, I did! You think I wanted to deceive you?! If I hadn't followed their orders, what other chance was I going to get to see Fluttershy again?! I haven't lied to you for two years, Ninja Time God Rarity only made the several hours I suffered through that day feel like two years! You think I don't care about you?!"

"Twilight, enough already!" Applejack yelled. "We weren't accusing ya of doing this for a bad cause! We just wanted to know what was going on because it was obvious you were hiding something and we wanted the truth!"

Twilight sighed and knelt her head in remorse.

"I'm sorry…" she apologized. "Believe what you will, but that page about me creating you wasn't even written by me. It was in that book when I got it. I wasn't lying about being a human clone...I am the same as you. I didn't create you. Rarity and Discord created us. I really do have no memories other than what was left in my brain by Discord and Rarity either. All I was told by them was that the reason I was brought to this world was to be its Twilight Sparkle, someone who would do everything in their power to unite the world in friendship and perfect harmony. That's it. Just because I'm their lackey doesn't mean we're not friends…"

Twilight's friends wanted to believe her, but were not completely convinced. Something was not adding up…

 _I'll give you a hint. She's not your creator. She wants to **re** create you with Starcatch._

"Look Twilight," said Rainbow, "we want to trust you. But you have to tell us the ENTIRE truth. Until we know that, we can't have a true friendship with you. Please, tell us everything. Why are Rarity and Discord doing this? Why did they screw around with your memories but leave you knowing that your memory was altered by them? What does any of what's happened up till this point have to do with "uniting the world"? It's not making sense to us what their motive is…"

Upon hearing those words, Twilight looked up and asked them…

"Would you like to hear their story on what their motive is? I can take you to them right now…"

Surprised, the others thought about this for a bit before saying…

"...Sure. All we want is the truth. Being able to tell ourselves the truth is the quintessential display of the trust between our bond, it's for all our sakes that we know it. We trust that once we've heard it, we'll be able to put our full trust in you."

"Thank you guys…" Twilight replied with a warm smile. "I'll let you know that Discord and Rarity are actually not so bad, they're just a little...high on the weirdness scale."

 _Ha! You're way too nice as always, Twilight._

Twilight then cast a teleportation spell to teleport herself and her friends to Discord and Rarity's place. After they left, the crowd finally began to talk among themselves.

"Woah, what happened?" one pony in the crowd asked.

"Why were we just standing there watching those girls vent about their problems?" another pony asked. "I felt like I was watching a dramatic scene straight out of a superhero movie."

"You did it because it was written for you to just stand there…" Maud Pie explained as she walked up to the crowd. "Just like it was written for me to stay out of Twilight's group and not be teleported to Discord and Rarity's place…"

The crowd gasped when they saw Maud Pie.

"It's-IT'S YOU!" one pony shouted. "Myra Michaels!"

"Don't forget about me…" a familiar ninja said as he appeared out of the shadows from behind Maud/Myra. He was revealed to be the same ninja who attacked Celestia's castle.

"W-who's that?" another pony in the crowd asked.

"Edward Miles," the ninja introduced himself, "mercenary. My client here, Myra Michaels, also known as Maud Pie, hired me to aid her in her fights."

"But what are you both doing here?" the same pony asked. "There's no fighting going around here…"

"Oh ho," chuckled Edward, "but there will be...two assailants have come here seeking to take the life of one of Myra's friends. I'm being paid to help take care of them…"

Edward brandished his "E.M." initialed katana and gold claw.

"You all should probably get out of here…" he told the ponies in the crowd. "There's two killers on the loose...disregarding Myra and I."

All the ponies in the crowd began to scream, with ponies going all over the park to warn others and rushing towards the exit of the park. Soon, there was no pony left in the area where Edward made the announcement.

"Congratulations," said Myra, "your joke scared them off."

"I like it when my jokes do that…" Edward replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, back with Twilight and friends, they had been teleported outside of a large, purple castle...in another dimension. Twilight opened the white-colored door of the castle, and the gang went inside. Walking through the corridor of the castle, the gang was surprised to not find any guards, but lots of strange decor. The carpet they were treading was made of hoof sanitation wipes, there were flowers in kitchen pots, and the room they were in didn't even have a ceiling...just transparent platforms, each one with mysterious symbols on it that meant "Seal."

"I guess that's their way of making a ceiling." Applejack commented.

Eventually, the gang made it to the throne room of the castle. It was there, upon entrance, that they saw the two gods. One of them was drinking, the other was getting drunk. Ninja Time God Rarity was in a black robe, sitting on a throne decorated with the emblem of a sword, drinking something out of a glass. Fantasy God Discord was not sitting on his throne decorated with the emblem of a shield, because he was the liquid in the glass.

"Fluttershy's not with the gods," said a flushed Rarity, both her cheeks being red, "did you check the pub?"

Twilight fought back the urge to slam the door shut immediately. She realized that she couldn't do that after she just promised to open up an opportunity for her friends to meet Rarity and Discord. So, Twilight and her friends entered the throne room. Strangely enough, this room was decorated like a standard room in a castle, unlike the hallway. Windows on both sides, a white and gray carpet lining the floor, and even a ceiling. It seems that Rarity and Discord were strange enough to make up for this room's lack of bizarre features. Speaking of bizarre, Rarity finished drinking Discord and threw the glass aside, where it landed on a soft pillow that magically appeared to catch it...then broke.

"Nice catch!" Discord complimented as he magically reformed, wearing a white robe and sitting on his throne, decorated with the emblem of a shield. "Oh, but you destroyed my nice, little home…"

"Hey, look on the bright side." Rarity replied. "Home is where the heart is. ...Oh dear, wrong comforting saying. That would mean I just broke your heart of glass...WAH HA HA!"

Discord laughed too, but Twilight and her friends did not. They felt disturbed.

"Wow, I can tell Discord worked his...influence on Rarity." Applejack said in astonishment.

"What is up with this shit, man?" Rainbow Dash asked in puzzlement. "I thought Rarity didn't even like Discord...if anything, I thought she was the one who disliked him the most out of all of us."

"Mhmm…" Discord hummed as he teleported between Applejack and Rainbow, his back facing the other way. "Whatever are you two whispering to each other about? You know it's not nice to talk about others behind their backs…"

"We didn't come here to spite you in secret…" Applejack grumbled.

"We came here," said Rainbow in an angry tone, "because we know what you two have been up to and we want answers…"

"Yeah!" Pinkie proclaimed. "Like, where's the chocolate milk and gyros? I NEED MY CHOCOLATE MILK AND GYROS! Or else, I'll crave hard cream soda!"

"Never mind her," said Twilight, "we're not in the mood for Greek dairy food right now. Like Dash said, we're here because my friends want to know why you're doing this from you…"

"Ah," said Rarity, overhearing Twilight's request, "so you're making us, your superiors, do your errands for you...I like your style. Okay, we'll tell you everything you want to know…"

Twilight's friends were slightly irked by the idea of Rarity and Discord being Twilight's "superiors", but kept their frustration to themselves to avoid needless confrontation.

"For starters," said Rainbow Dash, "can you please tell us what the hell us being "created" is about?"

"Sure," replied Rarity, "we are the ones who created you guys, or at least the forms of you guys in this world. In this world, you guys are characters in our story. You used to be ordinary guys from the human world, but when we came to you and asked you if you wanted to help us in our quest to unite the world, of course you said, "Yes!". I'm serious, that dream that you had was you remembering the day we came to you…you know in your hearts that you agreed."

"Never mind that then," said Rainbow, unconvinced, but more concerned with other matters at the moment, "can you please explain to me what the heck this "characters in our story" crap is about?"

"Certainly," responded Rarity, "our "story" is more of a plan for everything that happens in the world than anything. We're actually servants of the The Risen One, an all-powerful deity who oversees the creation of all things in this world. He gave us a premise to work with, and we tried to write the best story we could based off that premise. Anything we write in our little "storybooks" becomes true, even if it defies everything logical..."

"Basically," intervened Discord, "he is the director of this show and we are his writers. The other gods of this world are basically assistant creative directors. They are allowed to give ideas and write their own stories in their own storybooks, so long as nothing conflicts with what we have written and it's approved by us. If something written in another god's storybook is unapproved, conflicts with what we wrote or renders something we want to happen impossible to occur, it will not come true. While we are friends with the other gods, precautions must still be taken. But even though we're the ones who have been put in charge, we all oversee what happens."

Something struck Twilight and her friends as odd…

"Didn't Fluttershy say that she was a god?" they thought. "Wouldn't that mean...that she was okay with getting murdered? If she has a part in this story too…"

"Okay," replied Pinkie, "so what we're supposed to be getting out of this is that you guys control everything that goes on in the world under the order of this guy called The Risen One. We're supposed to infer that the reason we were brought to this world was to help you unite it or something. You write things in books and they become true, and anything another god writes becomes true so long as you're okay with it...that's weird, but kind of cool."

"Yes, that's all true, especially the last part." Discord said, stroking his ego.

"Spot-on summary, I must say." Rarity praised Pinkie's recap of what they had just said.

"Summary?" Pinkie said. "I thought I was making a review."

"So…" Applejack began sadly. "Does this mean...we're just characters and nothing more?"

"Oh no no no," replied Rarity, "we are not so cruel. You all still have a will, and would not do anything we've written for you to do if you did not wish to do it."

"When we sought you four out while you were still human," explained Discord, "we showed this entire story to you on a rough draft on ordinary script paper and you agreed to play your parts in it. Of course, you hated that so many awful things would have to happen in it, but you knew that it had to be done for the sake of the world. Also, if you refused to play your parts, others would have to suffer the roles instead. We only erased your memories of being humans because that would give you trouble getting in character, wouldn't it?"

"About being humans…" Rainbow Dash said. "Are all the other ponies in Equestria former human beings too?"

"Yes," replied Rarity, "all of them. They've all had their memories erased as well. Some of them are results of illegal human experimentation done by the evil CEO of the now shutdown corporation, ChrysCo. All the others were willing participants we gathered from the human world."

"In this reality," said Discord, "the human world has become dominated by those who have discovered the power of the demons...on a new level, that is. It's not a pretty place right now, so it was not difficult to discover those who were willing to come to Equestria. Do not automatically judge them as cowardly, however. All those we sought out, including you four, were those with hearts of courage and light. They all agreed of their own accord to make a great self-sacrifice to help Equestria...the sacrifice of full ownership of their bodies, minds, and souls…"

The four ponies shuddered.

"What about all the chaos that's going on back in Equestria?" Applejack asked. "What's the reason for all that?"

"Oh yeah, that." Rarity replied. "Before the Goddess of Death and God of War came to your world, we wrote for their aura to be in a chaotic state, spreading fear and bloodlust to all we wrote to be susceptible. Cruel, but we had to make up some excuse for Celestia to bring a top supernatural detective like Maud Pie/Myra Michaels into the picture, other than, you know, her sister going missing."

"And we've done far worse," chimed in Discord, "like, you know, writing for a whole bunch of ponies to die just so that they could be immortal. Besides, their chaotic aura is gone now, so it's all good."

The four ponies shuddered again.

"One last question…" Pinkie Pie said. "Regarding these demon powers, why do Twilight and I have them?"

"Hee hee." Rarity snickered. "Actually, you all have them. In Applejack and Rainbow, they simply lay dormant, and even you two haven't awakened them at full power yet."

"To awaken the full potential of your demon powers," explained Discord, "you have to be willing to merge with ones of the darkness. Same with robot powers, only with ones of the metal."

"Hmm?" the four ponies went.

"Anyways," said Rarity, "in case you do not believe us, it's already been said...Twilight can confirm our story. She was hired as a special temp writer after Fluttershy's death. Though she only knows everything after that point, she made a lot of inclusions to the story under the pseudonym, "Boss", that we approved. What she's about to write now is something we've approved ahead of time...uh hoo hoo."

Like one would expect, everyone turned their attention to Twilight. She pulled out her black book with a white star on it and ink-dipped quill and opened up the book for all to see her write in it.

"Twilight…" Twilight's friends said.

"If this is what I have to do to regain your trust…" Twilight told her friends as her eyes dotted over to the right and her horn lit up. "then I'll do it."

Twilight began writing. She had turned the book towards her friends so that they could see the pages as she wrote in them. What she wrote was…

"Well howdy, do!" Applejack exclaimed. "I sure do love bananas!"

Applejack then proceeded to take off her hat and pull Princess Celestia out of it. Princess Celestia looked around in utter shock before saying…

"Well, it's official. I've gone nuts. Send me to the moon."

Immediately, what Twilight wrote happened. Twilight's friends and Celestia screamed in horror as Rarity and Discord guffawed. After all, they had written it preemptively for this to happen. Soon though, Celestia disappeared with a puff of magic smoke and ended up back on her throne in her castle. One of her guards, acting as a butler, entered the throne room a short time later and said…

"Good day, Your Majesty. It is time for your morning brunch. What would you like to have as a refreshment?"

Celestia just gave a deadpan stare for ten seconds before answering…

"...Therapy."

"Ah, yes." the butler guard replied. "I shall prepare a beverage with therapeutic qualities then. Is banana nut tea to your liking?"

"...Yes." Celestia said as the butler guard went away to get it. Celestia then got off her throne and went over to the window to look outside. She sighed as she saw demons and robots flying everywhere and chasing screaming ponies.

"Why do you flee from us?" the demons and robots asked. "We only wish to merge with you and become immortal beings…"

Some terrified ponies were also being confronted by Spike, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Gummy, Pinkie Pie's pet alligator, all of them still possessed by Prince Luna's four spirits.

"So," said Gummy in Octavia Melody's voice, "do any of you good chaps like music? I don't look it now, but I can play a mean cello."

"And I can play a mean DJ machine!" Big Mac exclaimed in Vinyl Scratch's voice. "Get the big boys spinning like strippers on poles so we can make some apple jam with the ladies tonight!"

"Hopefully, it will be organic jam." Apple Bloom said in Tree Hugger's voice. "Fruit is the sweetest of nature's offspring. When we die, our bodies can fertilize trees and plants that produce fruit. The children of nature and the dead must only be ground up with the sweetest care."

"AAIIIEEE!" the terrified ponies screamed. "The demons are possessing the civilians now too! We can't even trust each other now! AAAHHHH!"

The screaming ponies ran away, and the four spirits possessing Gummy, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Spike gave chase.

"Wait, come back!" Spike shouted in Ken Tucke's voice. "I JUST WANT TO REPORT LOVE TO YOU THIS EVENING!"

Upon seeing this, Celestia just slid against the window down to the floor and cried.

"Oh my God...Rarity...oh my God...Discord…" she muttered.

After a pause, she said…

"Oh my God...Risen One...ENOUGH!"

With a blinding flash of light, we were back with Twilight Sparkle and friends.

"So...it's true…" Applejack said. "We are in a story…"

"All this time," reflected Rainbow Dash on everything up until now, "everything in this world has been scripted by Rarity and a crazy guy…"

"It's weird," remarked Pinkie, "but I kinda already knew. I've always felt that deep down inside, I've been a piece of Rarity and a crazy guy's soul."

"Well," said Rarity, "we are technically your parents."

"Ho ho, a crazy guy…" Discord thought. "Why are they so nice?"

"That...reminds me of what that Prince Luna feller, said." Applejack brought up. "That he was...our father, technically. One of the creators…"

"Oh yeah," responded Discord, "Prince Luna. He was the Goddess of Death, I recall. We made up a new rule for gods to "die" if their storybooks are ruined just to give you a chance to defeat him. He didn't mind, he's immortal after all. Everything in that battle had been scripted by us, and he knew it…so did Maud..."

"So that's how Maud Pie knew to kill her by destroying his book." Dash said.

"Indeed." Rarity replied with a devilish smirk. "Maud Pie, or should I say, Myra Michaels, the God of War, serves as one of our agents along with her partner, Edward Miles. So does Prince Luna, the Goddess of Death. They all agreed to play their part in this story without question when The Risen One told them just how important this project of ours was…"

"Project?" Twilight asked. "You never told me about a project, just that you had a plan to unite the world..."

"The Dark Sky Awakening Project…" Rarity elaborated. "That IS our plan to unite this world with the Mortal World and change the universe...but that's a story for another day. Right now, there's a matter at hand more pressing than filling in all these inconsistencies."

Wait, we're done with the exposition already? But we haven't even explained where Sweetie Belle went yet.

"?" Twilight and the others went.

"What's that?" they asked.

"It just so happens…" Discord said in his trademark, sly tone. "That we're short on gods in the Immortal World. There are normally supposed to be ten, with two each in pairs of five. The Gods of War and Peace, Reality and Fantasy, Science and Magic, Life and Death, Darkness and Light. And it just so happens that five of those positions are open, for Peace, Science, Magic, Darkness, and Light…"

Twilight gulped and dotted her eyes to the right nervously.

"Hold on a second, isn't Rarity the God of Time?" Pinkie asked.

"No, I'm the God of Reality." Rarity answered. "I have powers over both time and reality. Time God just sounds cooler."

"So, how about it?" Discord said. "Would you guys like to be goddesses? You won't just be great and powerful, you'll also be immortal. We assure you, Prince Luna is still alive and will do no harm anymore. We've written her character to come back when the plot demands it. You are already good, evil, and neutral, so as long as you submit to us, you can become gods. You can live forever."

"Uh…" Twilight and the group muttered, unsure of what to say.

"Come on…" Rarity said. "I'll have you know that we despise cliches above all else. Think this through, you are not the real Twilight Sparkle and friends. All you are giving your family and friends back home is a ruse, a lie. At the very least, don't decline our offer for that reason."

"..." Even Twilight's friends got nervous looks as they legitimately did start thinking this through.

"So…" Discord said. "What's your decision?"

 _Decision #8: Accept Rarity and Discord's offer of immortality?_

 _A. Accept and become gods_

 _B. Refuse and explain something they've forgotten to mention_

Discord snapped his fingers, and a staircase fell through the roof and through the middle of the floor, creating a passageway that led to the basement.

"Follow us…" Rarity said as she came up to Discord, and both of them began descending the stairs. "It's time to get to the BEST part of this story…HA HA HA…"

The group was legitimately creeped out now.

"...Who's up for taking the elevator instead?" Pinkie remarked jokingly.

Discord snapped his fingers again, and an elevator came crashing through a window on the right, as a stallion inside it screamed. The elevator went out another window on the left and crashed into an interdimensional wall.

"I'm moderately okay!" the stallion inside assured.

"I moderately prefer the stairs…" Rainbow stated her opinion on the matter.

It was then that the group slowly walked down the stairs and followed the neurotic god duo, having a bad feeling about what was going to happen next. Little did they know, that what they were worried might happen…

...was NOTHING like what was GOING to happen…

End of Part Five.

"So that's the end of the fifth chapter!" Boss exclaimed. "So, what did you guys think of it?"

"It was decent," said Dumb-bell, "I liked the part with us and that Water Rinse guy at the bathroom. I thought that was funny."

"It was an interesting change of pace," said Hoops, "I liked how there was a balance of both humor and suspense."

"..." Score pointed out exactly what was wrong with their characterization in the chapter silently.

"Since Score already covered pretty much every problem I had with the way we were portrayed (ESPECIALLY ME G.R.D. IS A PERV LOL) in this chapter," said Ghost Rainbow Dash, "I'll instead critique how AWFUL the storytelling has been so far. Like...SERIOUSLY. Does anyone understand ANYTHING that has been going on in this story since the first or, if you want to be generous, second chapter?! There's way too many characters (Twilight has children now?! WHAT?!) and subplots (WHAT THE FUCK DOES A JELLY CARNIVAL AND A GUY GETTING SEXUALLY HARASSED IN A BATHROOM HAVE TO DO WITH HUMAN CLONES BEING CONTROLLED BY A STORYBOOK?!) going on and it's so incohesive! It's just a mess!"

"It was very good!" Derpy exclaimed. "It's great how compelling this story is getting, I was at the edge of my seat at the part where Twilight got caught, and it's really interesting how Rarity and Discord, the villains, actually offered Twilight and her friends to be gods like them! Even if it's just a trick, it really leaves you wondering about what the heck they're really trying to do! That's GREAT storytelling in my eyes!"

"Glad you all kinda loved it!" Boss exclaimed.

Clue #5: For quint


	13. Chapter 5-A The Dark Sky

The Dark Sky members showed up.

"Oh God," thought Twilight as she saw them coming up to greet her, "don't tell me…"

"Hi Twilight!" Dumb-bell greeted Twilight.

"Heya, Twi…oh…" Hoops paused his greeting when he saw Twilight's friends and realized that they weren't supposed to know that Twilight was their boss yet.

Twilight's friends and some of the other ponies in the crowd turned to the Dark Sky members suspiciously. Then Twilight's friends turned back to Twilight.

"They friends of yours?" Applejack asked with a skeptical glare.

Twilight gulped and thought for a while, not noticing something of hers going missing…

"Maybe if I just confess to knowing them, I'll look less suspicious than if I lie…"

"Yeah," answered Twilight, "they're fellow human clones that I befriended back when I was first transformed. You guys hadn't been transformed yet, so you didn't get a chance to meet them."

"..." Score whispered to the others that it would be a good idea not to call Twilight "Boss" silently. Thankfully, no one besides the Dark Sky members heard.

"Is Twilight telling the whole truth?" Rainbow Dash asked as she gave the stinkeye to Ghost Rainbow Dash. "I'm looking at you, Mr. Familiar."

"Familiar?" G.R.D. thought, misunderstanding what Rainbow Dash meant. "I thought I was a phantom. Then again, I doubt she's familiar with spirit terminology, like myself."

"Tell us NOW." Rainbow said in frustration, shooting the ghost a scary look.

"Of course she is," replied G.R.D. quickly to avert suspicion, "we're just close friends with Twilight! Just best bros till after the end of Judgement Day! How ya doin', Sparkle Alec? Rode any good trains, lately?"

"Thanks for giving us the day off, Leader!" Derpy proclaimed, wisely avoiding the use of the word, "boss", but sadly forgetting about the context of her words…

Twilight's friends turned back to Twilight, looking at her more suspiciously than ever…

"Girls, heh heh…" Twilight said nervously, backing away slowly. "This is all a grave misunderstanding, stuff like this always happens…"

"In movies? TV shows?" Pinkie Pie gave possible endings to her sentence in a disgusted tone. "Or should I say BOOKS?!"

Pinkie pulled out Twilight's book, having swiped it earlier when she was distracted.

"This book is HORRIBLE!" Pinkie shouted. "All it is is literally just a word-for-word copy of everything that's happened the past four days of our lives!"

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash said. "Let me see that!"

"No!" Twilight exclaimed, but it was too late. Rainbow Dash opened the book up and she, Applejack, and Pinkie read it together. Like Pinkie implied, it told about everything they and Twilight went through over the past four days, not in summary format, but in story format... On a particular page of the book that was of ordinary paper and _didn't_ look torn, this little diary entry was written…

"This is the beginning of the end of my life as I know it. Fluttershy is dead now. It's been two long years for me, but only hours for the rest of the world. I'm dead inside now. The only thing that provides me with real comfort now are the voices in my head. Gods Rarity and Discord, leaders of the Immortal World, have been calling me, telling me that they can take me to a mystical place where I can see Fluttershy again. Of course, I didn't believe such a thing at first, but when they showed me that it was a real possibility, I was overjoyed. All I had to do for them in return was recreate something…"

…

"Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie...and Starcatch...

I'll recreate my friends…"

After they had all read that, Rainbow Dash dropped the book in utter disbelief.

"You lied to us back then…" Rainbow Dash said, remembering what Twilight told them back at the graveyard.

"No…" Applejack intervened, looking at Twilight furiously now. "You've been lying to us from the start! You were the one who created us…"

"I'm Pinkie Pie because of you…" Pinkie said with sadness in her tone. "I'M PINKIE PIE BECAUSE OF YOU! WHY?! I WANTED TO BE APPLEJJAAAAACCKKK!"

Pinkie Pie then began crying over Applejack's shoulder as Applejack and all the other ponies got looks of discomfort on their faces.

"There...there?" Applejack said as she patted Pinkie on the back, unsure of how to react.

The Dark Sky members began shifting the back of their manes, not feeling like they belonged here.

"Uh ha ha…" Dumb-bell chuckled. "Look, I think we caught you guys at a bad time, long story short."

"Yeah," said Hoops, "you guys seem cool, but I think it's best we leave you alone right now and introduce ourselves to you some other time."

Like good contributing members to society, the Dark Sky members left Twilight's friends to have their emotional breakdown in peace. As they left, two figures in the crowd began to follow them…

"So we're not going to talk to Boss about what's going on with the story?" Derpy asked.

"Not right now," said Hoops, "I think we should wait."

"So where do we go now?" Dumb-bell asked.

"..." Score recommended a good place for the group to go silently.

"Ooh, I love the mirror funhouse!" Derpy exclaimed enthusiastically. "I love being an entertainer for myself, it really helps boost my self-worth!"

"Pfft…" Ghost Rainbow Dash snickered. "I don't need a funhouse to entertain myself, I much prefer to make my own funzone. You guys go on ahead, I'll be by myself playing my favorite game…"

"Okay," said Hoops, "let's just please not have another bathroom fiasco on our hooves…"

G.R.D. floated off towards the restroom, unaware of the fact that the others were being watched by the figures who had followed them earlier…


	14. Chapter 5-B Twilight's children

Just then, two figures who partially resembled Twilight Sparkle came out of the crowd and walked up to Twilight Sparkle and her friends. One was a black mare with dark purple hair, and the other was a white stallion with red hair that had blue streaks in it.

"Oh sweet Jesus, no…" she thought, recognizing these two.

"Well well," said the black mare in a demonic voice, "I never thought we would run into you at a place like this, mother."

"Regardless," said the white stallion in a robotic voice, "if my calculations are correct, it would be nice to give you a friendly greeting after such a long absence of being in your presence, mother. One such as… "Greetings.""

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie gave these two new characters blank stares before looking at Twilight and saying…

"Who are they? Why did they call you their mother?"

"Uh heh heh heh heh…" Twilight laughed nervously, knowing already she couldn't lie her way out of this. "They're Noava Falling and Arc Rising. Noava is the female one and Arc is the male one. They called me that because...they're my kids."

Applejack, Dash, and Pinkie's jaws hit the ground. Noticing their shock, Noava told them…

"Don't be so surprised, we're not completely blood-related."

"Oh," said Applejack, Dash, and Pinkie as their jaws retracted, "well that's not _too_ shocking…"

"Noava is correct," intervened Arc, "we're actually only half-siblings. Our mother, Twilight, conceived us with two different fathers, Equestria's two strongest ponies, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, to ensure strong gene growth for each of us. Luna is Noava's father, Celestia is my father. Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord used their god powers to give them each male reproductive organs so that they could impregnate Twilight. The reason we are both in the years that teenagers are present in is because Rarity used her time powers to make the pregnancy processes and the years of our childhoods go by in the blink of an eye's timeframe. Don't give us pity though, we still experienced our childhood years because to us, everything happened in normal time."

Applejack, Dash, and Pinkie's jaws were now below the ground, which was made of jelly. Noava and Arc scratched their heads as they examined this sight, being puzzled. They looked over at Twilight and asked…

"Are these ponies friends of yours?"

Upon hearing her children ask that question, Twilight began to feel very guilty.

"Yes they are…" she replied somberly. "But I've hidden so much from them...they'd even be shocked if I told them that I made you guys into a demon and a robot."

When Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie heard that, their eyes began watering.

"My jaw won't go any lower…" Applejack said.

"I can taste the dirt…" Rainbow said. "It tastes like jelly made from fruit seeds…"

"I can taste where the jelly came from, and it's not fruit seeds…" Pinkie commented. "I am requesting to be cremated when I die…"

"..." Twilight went upon hearing that last comment.

"Don't worry, Pinkie…" she thought. "There will be no need for such a request in the new world…"

"Hmm?" Twilight's friends went in confusion.

"I think there's something you guys need to read…" Twilight said as she turned to a page in her book that was of normal paper and did not appear torn…

"This is the beginning of the end of my life as I know it. Fluttershy is dead now. It's been two long years for me, but only hours for the rest of the world. I'm dead inside now. The only thing that provides me with real comfort now are the voices in my head. Gods Rarity and Discord, leaders of the Immortal World, have been calling me, telling me that they can take me to a mystical place where I can see Fluttershy again. Of course, I didn't believe such a thing at first, but when they showed me that it was a real possibility, I was overjoyed. All I had to do for them in return was recreate something…"

…

"Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie...and Starcatch...

I'll recreate my friends…"

"It's true…" Twilight confessed. "I'm Rarity and Discord's servant…"

Twilight's friends' jaws were at the lowest they could go, so they brought them up. And let their hearts sink to the floor. Pinkie Pie started crying.

"I guess this wasn't a good time for a family reunion," remarked Noava, "to say the least. We'll talk about that part of the story with your subordinates instead..."

"We shall have a meeting again." Arc said. "A farewell is what we bid for now."

The two then went away to do what they had really come here for. They searched the carnival until they found the Dark Sky members, strolling through the amusement park and talking to each other…


	15. Chapter 6

At Jelly Rockets…

Most of the ponies had left the amusement park after word of Myra Michaels and Edward Miles' warning had spread. The Dark Sky members and Water Rinse, however, were still there. The Dark Sky members, with the exception of Ghost Rainbow Dash, had gone to the mirror funhouse, while Water Rinse was just sitting down by the men's bathroom, feeling depressed. He had seen G.R.D. pass by and go into the men's room, and after what had happened earlier, couldn't even muster the drive to say anything about it. Eventually, Maud Pie/Myra, who was strolling by looking to see if everyone had been evacuated, saw him.

"Hey," she said as she walked over to Water, "there's two killers on the loose. This place isn't safe. The possibility of you dying here has gone up."

"Oh, are you with the police?" Water replied in a jeering tone. "Are you looking for these killers so you can talk with them and then let them off the hook because a witness with enhanced vision saw the victim holding a gun? Or because they're incapable of holding a weapon properly? Or because we have bigger problems to worry about than ponies dying?"

"Actually, that last one has some logic behind it." Maud said. "All of the ponies in this world are immortal. They come back to life after they've been killed. I hate to sound insensitive, but I personally don't find it to be a huge deal. On the other hand, I can understand them being scared because it's painful to die. I don't want to see them get hurt."

"Well, I'm not scared to die." Water proclaimed. "Not after the injustice that I witnessed today. I was sexually harassed and no one even cared. The one who harassed me got off scot-free. It was horrible. I don't want to live anymore. This world is far too corrupt. I wish that the ones who have corrupted it were dead."

With that, Maud breathed a sigh.

"I understand why you are so upset." she said in a genuinely sympathetic tone. "I feel the tragedy of your soul...part of my power is the ability to learn the root of one's inner conflict by feeling their spiritual energy. You're mad at yourself, aren't you?"

"...? What?!" Water cried.

"You still haven't forgiven yourself," continued Maud, "for the time Spitfire caught you sniffing her underwear and she beat you up for it. You knew you had done wrong and felt guilty, but secretly, you felt the punishment too severe. You never believed Spitfire really loved you, and secretly, you hated her. But that only made you feel more guilty. Out of guilt, you punished yourself for years, becoming a feminist to advocate the rights of others and try to make the world a better place as penance. Yet you're still angry at Spitfire deep down… When you got sexually harassed today, it subconsciously reminded you of the underwear incident, only this time, the roles were reversed. You, the victim, tried to solve the problem without violence and got punished for it while the offender went free. And now that you feel you can't do anything to give the people who have wronged you what they deserve at all, you feel the only solution really is to hate them in secret, calling them the people who corrupt the world so that others will relate to your problem. But you feel that's wrong, so you hate yourself. Are we on the same page here so far?"

Water Rinse just sat in silence for a few moments before he started to tear up.

"You're absolutely right!" he yelled as he cried. "I'M A LOSER! PLEASE HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO BE A BAD PERSON! I just want a happy life! Show me the right WAAAYYYYY!"

"Oh, well I wasn't done yet," replied Maud, "but if it's advice you want, I would suggest for you to forgive who wronged you-"

"You're right," said Water, unintentionally cutting her off as he wiped the tears from his face, "I should just forgive that ghost pony. She may be a dick, but I don't need to see her get her karma to feel better about myself anymore. If she continues to be a dick, she's giving herself her own karma, and if she mends her ways, all the better. But that's not my concern anymore, I played my part. It's over."

"It's very good that you've realized that," Maud told him, "but that's not enough. You also need to-"

"Yes…" Water replied. "It's not enough to just say it…I need to show that I'm over this! Then it's decided! I'm going to march into that men's room, look that ghost straight in the eye, and say that "I'm over what happened!"! Thank you for your advice, ma'am. I'll be sure to remember you."

Maud just gave him a dull, yet concerned and discomforted stare as Water Rinse held out his right front leg and offered her a hoofshake.

"You're welcome…" she said with unease in her apathetic tone as she shook his hoof.

Water then went into the men's bathroom. Ghost Rainbow Dash was in one of the closed jelly stalls playing her favorite game…

…Holy Nectar of Celestia on the Nintendo 3DS. In it, a neurotic Princess Celestia was in heaven, fighting off the Aero Knights of Chi, who were trying to blow her out of heaven by playing their flutes. To fight them, Celestia used fruit weapons. She used oranges as tear gas bombs, bananas as boomerangs and guns, and pineapples as pineapples (grenades). In the tutorial, Celestia shouted…

"RUB MY BANANAS WITH THE STYLUS TO SHOOT! SELECT YOUR CHOICE OF EXPLOSIVE AND BLOW IN THE MICROPHONE TO SEE THE RESULTS! I'M LIVING ON IT!"

"Ha ha ha!" G.R.D. laughed. "Oh Celestia, I'm not even playing this with a stylus…"

G.R.D. rubbed her right hoof across the game screen to shoot the weapons, but to her dismay, got a stream of glowing, blue ectoplasm on the screen.

"Wha-aw shit!" G.R.D. shouted in frustration. "I'm leaking!"

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"Please open this door and come out!" Water declared. "I know you can touch objects! There's no point in denying it!"

"Aw…" G.R.D. groaned as she put her game away in her ghostly pocket and opened up the stall door, inadvertently getting ectoplasm on it. "How did you know?"

"I came to a natural assumption when you FELT ME ON THE INSIDE," explained Water, "and I heard you in the bathroom just now. How could you play whatever that game was if you couldn't touch it?"

G.R.D. let out a sigh.

"Look," said G.R.D., "if you're still upset about what happened, I'll have you know that I didn't plan on getting totally off the hook for that. I didn't think that what I was doing was "wrong" or "right", I just...did it. But I've been doing some thinking now, and...I'm sorry."

"Oh, um...well…" Water hesitated to reply, not expecting an apology. "All is forgiven. Just please don't do that to me or anyone else without consent ever again."

"Sure," responded G.R.D, "I'd already resolved to not do that again. Are we cool now?"

G.R.D. asked that while holding out her right front leg for a hoofshake, having momentarily forgotten that it was leaking ectoplasm.

"...Yes." Water answered after hesitating for a little while again, and he took G.R.D. right hoof and shook it.

"Now if you don't mind," said G.R.D., "I gotta go empty the remnants of my privates."

G.R.D. floated over to one of the jelly urinals, looking at her right hoof and being reminded of the fact that it was exuding ectoplasm.

"The ectoplasm producers in my right hoof must be stimulated from touching him and Hoops…and that game..." she thought. "I hope this stops soon…"

"Wow…" Water said to himself, looking at his right hoof and feeling stunned. "That went uncannily well. I guess life is fair sometimes…after being sexually harassed, all I have to do to put the issue to rest is clean up some slime."

Water then went over to the sink, washing his hands and smiling to himself...before noticing what was going on in the jelly mirror. G.R.D. was hovering over a urinal and urinating in it while in a squatting position…

Water Rinse got a look of horror on his face as the sight triggered his memory. It was what Maud Pie was trying to tell him about earlier, the start of his trauma…

Fifteen years ago…

Water, a three-year-old colt, was knocking on the door to the bathroom, where Spitfire, his eight-year-old sister, had just entered.

"Pwease let me in Spitfire, I gotta go!" Water exclaimed.

Inside the bathroom, Spitfire was hovering just above the open toilet's hole, the seat being covered by a potty chair.

"And so do I…" Spitfire answered. "I won't be in here long."

Spitfire began to urinate in the toilet while flying just above it in a squatting position and thinking to herself…

"I should've thought of this long ago...I can finally go without moving this stupid thing all the time or having to sit on it like a baby."

Outside the bathroom, Water couldn't hold it anymore and started banging on the door really loudly and crying…

"Let me in! I gotta go NOW!"

"Shut up, you brat!" Spitfire called back. "You're such an annoying brother!"

It was then that Water lost his temper and swung the door open as hard as he could, only to find his sister urinating over the toilet. She stopped urinating when she saw Water and got an abashed look on her face. In shock, Water let it go and peed all over the bathroom floor. Soon, his mom walked by, and when she saw what had happened, she was furious, and clenched her front hooves in rage.

"You fucking little SHIT!" she screamed in a demonic voice as she smacked Water across the side of the head so hard he flew back and smashed his forehead against the toilet. Bleeding from the head, his blood dripped down to the floor, and Water laid in the puddle of urine and blood on the floor, about to pass out. Before he passed out though, he heard a demonic laugh and saw a ghostly figure flying over him and trying to grab him…

Back to the present…

"I...remember now…" Water said as he stared in disbelief at his reflection in the mirror. "That was the day...my family...died to me."

Water slumped to the jelly floor, feeling like a horrible spell had been cast on him, and laying down, looked up at the jelly ceiling. He thought to himself…

"My father left...my mother was mentally ill and hated me...and my sister just thought I was a nuisance...she thought all I was good for was a laugh...I was never loved…"

Water shut his eyes, only seeing the ghost mocking him in his head...

In actuality...

"Hey bro," said someone with a familiar voice, "are you okay?"

Ectoplasm dripped down onto Water's face…

"Dude, talk to me!"

"...!" Water was astonished as he remembered something else.

Fifteen years ago, after Water had been hit…

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Water's mother laughed maniacally, horrified by the mess and what she had done. "What a disaster…"

Spitfire hovered over to her brother and grabbed him.

"Are you okay, Water?!" Spitfire exclaimed with tears in her eyes, deeply worried for him. "Please, talk to me!"

A tear fell out of Spitfire's eye and landed on Water's face…

...

Water opened his eyes, now seeing a ghost trying to comfort him…

"Hey dude," said G.R.D., holding Water Rinse after lifting him off the floor, "are you alright?"

Water looked up at G.R.D., no longer feeling hexed, but instead feeling happy and relieved.

"Y-yeah," replied Water, "I feel...better than alright. I feel like...an enormous weight's been lifted off my shoulders. And the one who lifted it...was you."

"...Really?" G.R.D. said. "I mean, yeah, well...heh heh, I do confess to benchpressing some pretty heavy-duty stuff in the past."

"It's strange," said Water, "but...I'm actually really glad I met you now. It was a bad thing that you did to me, but...it's turned into the best thing that's ever happened to me. You intended to demean me, but I feel greater than I've ever been. Up till now, I've lived a life of self-loathing and false humility, fussing over every mistake I made, thinking I was the one who was picking myself up every time I fell. But now I know the truth, I never did pick myself up after I fell that day. It was both on that day and today that I was picked up by an enemy who turned out to be a friend."

G.R.D. blushed upon hearing that speech. She started thinking to herself…

"Wow...I don't believe it. I thought this guy was just a stuck-up loser at first, but...maybe he's just like me. He's not on anyone's side, not even his own, he's just happy to know the truth. Looking at a bad thing that happened to him as a good thing and accepting it...just like how I came to accept my death."

Water Rinse got up on his own and brushed his back, trying to get any jelly bits that may have been in there out of his mane.

"Thank you for your help," said Water, "but I need to get going now. I want to visit my sister back in the Mortal World, I don't want to try to avoid her anymore. I'm going on a vacation."

"Oh, uh...that's cool." G.R.D. replied, looking at her hooves, trying to maintain her cool and confident stature.

Water then started walking away to leave the bathroom, but just as he opened the door…

"So…" G.R.D. said. "When you come back, would you like to hang out with me?"

Water paused, standing still with the door ajar and looking back at G.R.D.. He began thinking to himself before smiling and saying…

"Yes. I would like that. You're cool."

Water then left the bathroom, leaving G.R.D. surprised and feeling happy, not really expecting him to say "Yes.". She then looked back at the stalls and at her right hoof, and started to frown out of guilt as she remembered what she did.

"You know," she said to herself, "I think my days of peeping are over. I don't feel like doing it anymore..."

She then thought about what Water had said to her, and said to herself with a smile...

"...Not after seeing real beauty."

Outside the bathroom, Maud Pie saw Water strolling by and looking happy, and she too was grinning as she felt his aura and knew what had happened.

"I guess it was more fun this way." she thought.

 _And so ends the story of a seemingly unrelated pony's encounter with the Dark Sky...but what is going on with Twilight, her friends, and her two best friends right now? Let's take a look back and find out…_

Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord were leading Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the pony gang down the stairs. Eventually, they arrived at a door. Engraved on it was a plaque that said "The Risen One's Home".

Discord then opened the door. Everyone in the group walked in and found themselves in a living room. Inside the living room was a floor lined with white, quadrilateral tiling, a ceiling with wooden support beams, a television, a gray and black carpet, a blue round table with a glass top, a yellow couch with pink pillows, and King Sombra lounging on said couch in his shadow form.

Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash gasped at the sight of Sombra and shrieked. Upon hearing their hollers, Sombra looked up at them, shuddered, and buried his face in the pillow he was resting his head on.

"AAIIIEEE!" the trio shrieked.

"MMMPH!" Sombra made a muffled yell into the pillow.

"AAIIIEEE!"

"MMMPH!"

"MMMPH!" Pinkie screamed with her mouth closed, trying to imitate the muffled cry.

"AAIIIEEE!" Sombra cried as he got his head out of the pillow and zoomed off into the kitchen.

"Agh!" another pony in the kitchen cried as Sombra bumped into her. The pony then walked out into the living room, revealing herself to be the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna. She was wearing a black-blue apron with an insignia of the moon on it, and holding a plate with a stack of blueberry pancakes on it with her left hoof.

"Great wobbling waffles!" Prince Luna exclaimed as she tried to whistle by blowing into her right hoof. "Even my muffled whistles aren't that loud!"

Everyone besides Rarity and Discord gave her a good ol' blank and confused stare.

"What-you're back?!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Here?! Now?!"

Applejack looked over to Rarity and Discord.

"I thought y'all said she wouldn't come back until the plot demanded it!" she yelled.

"The plot IS demanding it." Rarity explained with a smirk.

"Demanding it for the sake of a joke!" Discord proclaimed happily. "Oh yeah, and it's also demanding it for an upcoming plot point about who killed Fluttershy."

"?!" Twilight and her friends went. "You mean-?!"

"Yes…" Prince Luna said as she put down the pancakes ominously. "Before any of you can become gods, if you so chose, you must also solve the mystery of your friend's death. It is the only way the path leading you to discover the purpose of being good, evil, and neutral will open…"

DUN DUN DU-

"Hold on a second!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "Isn't being evil, like...wrong?"

"Obviously yeah," replied Prince Luna, "HOWEVER, a combination of goodness, evil, and neutrality is very right."

"I see…" Pinkie Pie said suspiciously as she slowly and ominously poured blueberry syrup on Luna's pancakes. "I'll trust you...for now…"

 _Now where were we? Oh yes…_

DUN DUN DUN

 _It is time to reveal who the killer is…_

"So wait," said Rainbow Dash, "are you saying we have to find out who killed Fluttershy right here, right now? That's an...abrupt change of pace."

"Don't look now," said Discord, "but that's the reason for it…"

Sombra came out of the kitchen and walked into the living room.

"...Sombra...is the reason?" Rainbow asked confusedly.

"Actually no," replied Sombra in Fluttershy's voice, "I'm the reason."

"?!" Twilight and her friends jumped a bit in shock.

"Yes my friends," continued Sombra in Fluttershy's voice, "it is me, Fluttershy. This is the reason for my shadow powers of the Sombra variety. To become a god, I had to become good, evil, and neutral. I had to fuse with him, an evil being, along with a human boy, a neutral character, in body, mind, and soul."

"Y-you all were being serious about that stuff?!" Applejack shouted at Rarity and Discord, who both started giggling in response. "At best, I thought you were just trying to be symbolic!"

"We take symbolism _very_ seriously around these parts, my dear." Rarity explained.

"Yeah," said Discord, "I mean, just look at me! I practically represent a tragedy of Shakespeare!"

"But Fluttershy doesn't represent Sombra!" Dash yelled. "Or a...human boy!"

"Guys, please calm down." Fluttershy pleaded. "Don't yell at them like this is their fault, I...chose to be this way. I even chose who I wanted to fuse with. I had to become the God of Life...if I didn't, something just awful would've happened to the entire universe…"

"Huh?" Twilight and her friends said. They started thinking…

"The _universe_? Only once did Rarity and Discord ever mention the universe…"

 _That and one other time..._

"So…" Pinkie Pie began talking. "Does this mean that to become gods, we have to fuse with King Sombrero and a guy from Canterlot High to become good, evil, and neutral?"

"No," replied Fluttershy, "times have changed since I became a god. At the time of your transformation, you guys were given essential upgrades in the tower of Starcatch so that you would never need to literally polymerize with other beings to become evil and neutral as well as good. Your minds and souls will always be yours and the ponies who are you so long as you wish it. Basically, your fusions have already been done for you."

"Upgrades?" Twilight asked. "But wait, that means-"

"Yes…" Discord said with a yawn. "We planned this from the beginning, blah blah, is this still a mystery, or what?"

"Yeah," Rarity chimed in, "can we get on with some sleuthing here? Even Shadow Shade novels don't have exposition about science fiction fantasy…"

"..." Twilight and her friends found this odd and began thinking again…

"Why are Rarity and Discord complaining about all this exposition when they're the ones who wrote it? And _science fiction_ fantasy? But besides that time back at Starcatch, the only sci-fi element that's been hinted at in this story so far is...no...are they trying to give us clues?"

"Alright," said Rarity, "let's get this show on the road."

"But where do we start?" Twilight asked. "How do we begin to solve an unsolved case from two years ago when we're not even at the scene of the crime?"

"Twilight, Twilight…" Rarity said, nodding her head in disappointment. "I am disappointed in how much you underestimate me...with my time powers, I can summon us to the time plane in which the killing happened, and we can see the killing in all of its...erm, for lack of better word, messiness."

Discord snapped his fingers and made a video camera appear.

"Hold on," intervened Dash, "if we're going back in time, can't we just stop the killer from-"

"NO!" Rarity shouted. "Absolutely not! Time does not work that way, at least not anywhere in our world! It works differently here than it does in what they call "real life". Time was created in this world as a series of _separate_ planes. You can't change the future by altering the past because altering one plane does _not_ affect the other planes! All the events in one plane are counted as having already happened, never as something that is happening! It's like with the pages of a story book. The author has already decided everything that has happened in the story. You can't just edit the beginning of a story book by writing whatever you want on the first page, and expect it to change the ending! It won't even change the beginning, the author's canon is still entirely valid! What has happened has happened! Understand?!"

"...Yes." a stunned Rainbow replied.

"Good!" Rarity exclaimed with a wide grin. "Now, let us begin our journey back in time…"

Rarity pulled a scroll from out of her black robe and began chanting something. When her chant had finished, a white, swirling portal opened up in front of the group. Rarity and Discord immediately entered. Twilight, Applejack, Dash, and Pinkie all got ready to enter, but looking back, they saw that Fluttershy/Sombra didn't follow.

"Aren't…" they said with a pause. "...you coming too?"

"I'm fine…" Fluttershy replied. "I don't need to know who the killer is…"

 _Beyond the fact that the killer stood before me not as herself, but as her former self..._

When Twilight and her friends entered the portal, they were transported to Fluttershy's house, on the day where Fluttershy was murdered…

The part of the house they had been teleported to was the dining room. As they stepped into the kitchen, Twilight Sparkle and her friends began getting chills.

"Ooooohhh…" Pinkie Pie groaned, trying to contain her discomfort. "I really don't want to be here…"

"Neither do I…" Applejack concurred. "The way Fluttershy was killed wasn't even exactly natural…what kinda killer is able to just slip into a house, do tha rotten deed, and leave without leaving behind any evidence?"

"The butler, obviously." Rainbow said sarcastically with a naughty grin on her face.

Twilight and the rest of her friends all went, "UGH.".

"Rainbow…" Twilight said bemusedly. "This is NOT a place for jokes. We're about to witness our friend's death, for Star Swirl's sake. I think even Rarity and Discord would agree that this part of the story is supposed to be completely serious. There's nothing wrong with comic relief, but there are just times and places that are not meant for jokes."

While Twilight was talking, she didn't notice that Fluttershy was behind her in the dining room, picking up the teacup and feeling it before drinking it. The others did notice Fluttershy though, as well as a dark, swirling interdimensional time portal that a ninja came out of.

"Uh...Twilight," said Dash, "I'm seriously completely not joking when I say that there's a ninja behind you."

"Wha-" Twilight replied as she turned around and froze in fear as she saw what was about to happen.

"Now," said the ninja in a robotic voice, "you take a nap."

As the ninja prepared to stab Fluttershy with the blade and Twilight saw what was written on the card that fell out of their outfit. In horror, she put her hooves up to her face and screamed. It was as if she knew she had seen this before somehow...

"AAAAAHHHHH!" she bellowed.

"Twilight!" Pinkie yelled as she and the others came closer to her in concern.

"I...know who did it…" Twilight said. "The murderer…"

Twilight was saying this right as she and the others were seeing the ninja stab Fluttershy in the heart, and being sickened by the sight.

"...is not that ninja…"

The others were baffled by what Twilight just said until they saw the killer's face after the mask was taken off. He was just a white robot pony with raven hair. His face didn't match the face of any pony they had ever met. This immediately struck them as off. They knew it couldn't be that simple. They knew that there was a deeper connection, one that Twilight soon revealed...

"The real murderer...is the one who hired that ninja…"

With those words, time stopped. Ninja Time God Rarity had paused time in this plane.

"I believe us gods have stood here doing nothing in silence long enough." Rarity said. "It's time to gather up all the evidence. Did you get everything recorded, Discord?"

"That's my name." Discord replied as he pressed the appropriate button on the camera to stop the filming. "Recording is just a game. You know I got everything."

"Wait," said Pinkie, "why were you guys videotaping that? We all saw everything that happened."

"First of all," replied Rarity, "not all of us. We're going to have to call in some extra ponies to help us with this case, and I don't feel like taking them back here each time. Second, this video could prove to be vital evidence, especially with you guys as background witnesses who could testify to its full authenticity."

"Heh heh," chuckled Rainbow, "the way you talk about this...you're making it sound like we're preparing for a court case."

"Exactly…" Discord said slyly.

"...Huh?" Twilight and her friends went.

Some time later, in a courthouse…

*THWACK*

"Court is now in session!" Judge Discord declared as he banged his gavel. "Is the defense ready?"

"The defense is ready, Your Honor." Fluttershy, who was standing at the defense attorney's bench dressed like her alter ego, Phoenix Wright, replied.

"Is the prosecution ready?" Judge Discord asked.

"The prosecution is indeed prepared, Your Honor." Rarity, who was standing at the prosecuting attorney's bench dressed like Miles Edgeworth replied.

"Very well then." Discord said. "Let us begin the trial for the murder of Fluttershy. Would the defense like to make an opening statement?"

"Yes Your Honor," replied Fluttershy, "I would like to say for the record that even though it may be my own killer whom I am defending, I will do everything in my power to prove him innocent."

"But hold on," said Discord with a devilish grin, "it has been proven who your killer is. How can he possibly be innocent?"

"It's simple," chimed in Rarity, "Your Honor. This trial is being held for the murder of Fluttershy, not the murder _er_ of Fluttershy. New evidence has come to light suggesting that the killing was not a one-man job, but rather a complicated scheme devised by a criminal mastermind. Fluttershy's ultimate goal in this trial is to prove the mastermind's guilt."

"Oh…" Discord hummed, still grinning and pretending to have been unaware of this information. "So this trial is not being held for the killer, but rather his boss…"

"Thank you for reminding us, Your Honor." Fluttershy said sarcastically in thought. "We only have the attention span of a second…"

"Anyways," said Discord, "does the prosecution have an opening statement?"

"I do as well," responded Rarity, "Your Honor. I would like to state for the record that even though the new evidence that has been discovered may present an interesting new possibility, that is all it is at the moment. A possibility. And I will do everything in my power to prove it to be an _im_ possibility."

"Huh huh heh." Discord laughed. "Glad to hear that both of you are feeling confident. Now I know that it will be fun to watch either of you lose. But enough talk. Please call forth your first witness, Mr. Rarity."

"Of course Your Honor," replied Rarity, "however, before I do, I would like to take a quick moment, if I may."

"You indeed may…" Discord said slyly, knowing what she was going to do.

Rarity made these words known only to a select few as she spoke…

 _Be warned, Decision Makers. We are at the final decisions of the stories, and all of them are extremely important. Some decisions you make from this point on will affect what ending you get. Be on your guard..._

These are the witnesses Prosecutor Rarity calls forth...

 _A. Twilight Sparkle and her friends_

 _B. Noahva Falling and Arc Rising_

 _C. The Goddess of Death, Prince Luna_

 _D. The Dark Sky members_

 _E. Discord_

 _Decision #9: Do you wish to listen to their testimonies or go straight to accusing them?_

 _A. Listen to the testimonies_

 _B. Begin the accusations!_

 _C. Discord did it! The judge is guilty!_


	16. Chapter 6 (Trial) Testimonies

"The prosecution calls forth Twilight Sparkle as a witness." Rarity said.

Twilight took the stand and gave her testimony as such…

 _I honestly don't know what to say regarding this murder._

 _Yes, Fluttershy was my friend. My heart was broken when I learned that she died. But talking about it is just...hard for me._

 _Having to witness it again was hard for me too. What scared me the most was not finding out who the killer was, but that card…I recognize it..._

 _That card is a business card from the Phoenext Corporation, a place that hires mercenaries like Edward Miles to do various deeds...and the name on the card...it said Raven Denouve…_

 _It doesn't matter that the killer is a robot pony...what matters is that the name clearly incriminates the real murderer!_

"The prosecution calls forth Noava Falling and Arc Rising as witnesses." Rarity said.

Bailiffs Myra Michaels/Maud Pie and Edward Miles brought in Noava and Arc. They were the two assailants who Myra and Edward were after, and they were apprehended and brought here after Myra and Edward caught them engaging in suspicious activity at the mirror funhouse in Jelly Rockets.

 _Yeah, for the record, you killing Twilight was just a little plotline we thought of that went nowhere, so we scrapped it._

Rarity said in their minds.

 _We only kept a slight remnant of it in because it made for easy exposition. Yeah, we screwed you over and we're proud of it. Deal with it._

Discord said in their minds.

Despite being angered by such pomposity, Noava and Arc were forced to take the stand and give their testimony as such…

 _We may we Twilight's children, but we don't know what that has to do with Fluttershy's murder._

 _Twilight has always known that the killer's name is Raven Denouve. What can we possibly add?_

 _One of us is a demon, the other is a robot. We smell a courtroom drama?_

 _We're even talking like a hive mind because Arc's systems determined that it would be faster and more efficient than talking separately. That shows how little we have to say._

 _It's true that you know little about us, but there's no evidence that our backstory will have any bearing on this case._

"The prosecution calls forth the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna as a witness." Rarity said.

Luna took the stand and gave her testimony as such…

 _I'll start by confessing that, yes, I did have a part in Fluttershy's murder._

 _Shocking, huh? After all, I'm only the Goddess of Death._

 _After Fluttershy died, I devoured her soul. It felt great to have her as a part of me._

 _But Fluttershy's soul escaped from me after I died back in the Mortal World. I did nothing to her after that._

 _Any bearing I have or could have on this case is already known. I played my part in this story. Whatever continues from here on out, I'm doomed to just be lost in its_ _ **shadow**_ _..._

"The prosecution calls forth the members of Fluttershy's band, the Dark Sky, as witnesses." Rarity said.

Going up to the stand, the Dark Sky members wondered how they would all fit on there. Derpy suggested that they could do it without Ghost Rainbow Dash, saying that they could all stand on top of each other without slipping through G.R.D., but Hoops proposed that they just each give their testimony one at a time instead. And so they did. This was Dumb-bell's testimony…

 _Hi, I'm Dumb-bell. I play for the Dark Sky. That's my testimony for my name and occupation. And I like Hawaii._

Then Hoops took the stand and gave this piece of testimony…

 _Regarding our actual testimony, we don't know much about this case besides that our boss killed someone and there's a riddle about her boss._

After that, Score took the stand, and communicated this bit of testimony silently…

 _The quiet ones know much more than we think. Maybe someone who has said little, mostly remaining in silence will be the key to solving this case._

Following him, Ghost Rainbow Dash took the stand, and testified to this…

 _Just for the record, we're not accusing our boss of anything. The pony she killed tried to kill her, and she's risen again too. Besides, it's the one who raised our boss' fault if you really think about it! She called the shots!_

Finally, Derpy stepped up to the stand, and spoke the following testimony…

 _Our boss is an awesome dude! She helped us solve a puzzle! She teaches us valuable life lessons in her stories, and she's friends with the Goddess of Death!_

"The prosecution calls forth Judge Discord to the stand." Rarity said.

The court fell silent as Judge Discord snickered to himself.

"Is that alright with you, Your Honor?" Rarity asked.

"It's FANTASTIC with me," replied Discord, "what better witness to call forth than the judge himself? The god of the courtroom sees all! You won't regret this…"

Discord snapped his fingers, and teleported himself to the stand. He began his testimony…

 _Being the God of Fantasy who helps Ninja Time God write the story for this world, I believe it's clear who I am and what I've done. But I had no motive to kill Fluttershy._

 _Rarity and I are good friends with Fluttershy. Just ask her. We had a chicken picnic the day of the murder!_

 _Sadly, it was after that picnic that Fluttershy's mortal incarnation was killed. What a tragedy…_

 _How overjoyed Rarity and I were to learn that she had escaped from the clutches of Prince Luna!_

 _We celebrated with perfectly prepared tea made with Rarity's special blend that day, just like Fluttershy had on the day she died. Oh, I'm just so glad that our Flushie returned to us…_

 _Time to accuse the killer now..._


	17. Accuse the killer!

"The defense would like to use accuse someone of being the killer…" Fluttershy replied.

"Ooohh…" Rarity said with a big smile. "This is my favorite part...the no turning back point. I hope you're prepared, because this is the most crucial decision you will make…"

Fluttershy gulped, feeling like she had butterflies in her stomach.

"She's right, Defense Attorney Fluttershy…" Discord said with a big smile of his own. "Do not just mindlessly stab at what you think is the right answer...choose carefully the way you want this murder mystery play to end…"

"This is intense…" Fluttershy told herself as she started feeling more nervous than ever. "I've caught onto their scheme...and yet, I'm still not entirely sure of what to do...someone please help me out...what do I do?!"

"Calm down," said Fluttershy in her mind, "think. It's not Noava and Arc or the Dark Sky members. Their testimonies are only meant to provide clues as to who the real killer is. It's either Twilight, Luna, or Discord. That seems to be the case...but I just have this bad feeling inside...what should I do?"

 _Decision #11: Which suspect should Fluttershy accuse?_

 _A. Twilight Sparkle!_

 _B. Prince Luna!_

 _C. Discord!_


	18. Begin the accusations

"The defense has come to a conclusion, Your Honor!" Fluttershy declared. "One of these witnesses is the real murderer!"

The courtroom fell silent...and Rarity began guffawing.

"Oh Fluttershy," said Rarity, "you should not be so rash and hasty in your judgement call. I will remind you that this trial is your _one and only_ chance to find the real killer. One baseless accusation is all it should take to provoke Your Honor to end the trial and close this case _for good_."

"She's right Fluttershy…" Judge Discord said with a smirk. "Even in the Immortal World, accusing someone of murder under unsubstantial grounds is a severe offense I will not hesitate to penalize you for. Those who do not understand what they are doing do not deserve to be in this courtroom."

"I...got nothing." Fluttershy said in thought. "I'm...personally more interested in seeing how others would react to that last line."

"I'll be honest though…" Fluttershy continued talking in thought. "I really don't know. I'm not feeling a huge burst of confidence inside about this...should I really go through with accusing a witness right now?"

 _Decision #10: Continue to accuse a witness?_

 _A. Of course! I have the perfect evidence!_

 _B. No! Rarity's right...I need to think through this more._


	19. Discord did it!

"You are the culprit Your Honor," Fluttershy claimed, "and I have the perfect support for my claims!"

"Oh, ho dear…" Rarity said as she chuckled to herself.

"Well, let it rip them!" Judge Discord exclaimed.

"The testimony…" Fluttershy began her foolproof argument. "...contradicts the evidence!"

DUM DUM DUM

As dramatic silence dawned on the court, Discord just started to laugh.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" he laughed. "I...I can't hold it back. I have to come out and say it. That is hands down the best argument you could make for me being guilty! You know, just...you deserve to win the trial just for that. I confess. I'm the real killer."

"So am I!" Rarity yelled. "There is just simply no way I can just sit back and not confess to my part in the crime either after hearing such an astounding argument! Bailiffs, take us away!"

Bailiffs Myra and Edward escorted Rarity and Discord out of the courtroom as Fluttershy and everyone watching the trial just looked upon the scene in shock and awe.

"...That went well." Fluttershy said to herself, feeling very unnerved. "...Too well. Like...this can't be the truth. I feel like I've made a terrible mistake…"

The trial was over.


	20. Accusing Twilight

"Twilight Sparkle…" Fluttershy said. "The defense accuses you of being the real murderer!"

DUN DUN DUN

A void of silence filled the room. Twilight stood on the stand looking speechless. She pulled out a book, began reading it, and suddenly flipped it over while flipping through all the pages with magic and screaming, "WWHHAAATTT?!"

A crowd that was watching the courtroom could be heard jabbering loudly.

"Chaos!" Discord yelled as he banged his gavel. "Chaos! Yes, keep it up! Now then, Mr. Fluttershy, on what grounds are you accusing Mrs. Twilight?"

"Firstly," began Fluttershy, "on the grounds that her testimony has given everything away! She said herself that the name on the card incriminates the real murderer, and that the real murderer's name is Raven Denouve, right?"

"OBJECTION!" Rarity cried. "Yes, right...the murderer whom was hired by the real killer was called Raven Denouve...that's all."

"OBJECTION!" Fluttershy cried back and shook her head. "No...that is FAR from all. Because the truth is…"

Fluttershy put both her hooves on her desk.

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE IS RAVEN DENOUVE!" she shouted.

The courtroom fell silent again, only this time, everyone but Fluttershy and Twilight were at a loss for words for some time.

"Uh, Fluttershy…" Twilight broke the silence. "Like I told Rainbow earlier, this isn't a place for jokes. Please stop fooling around. I know you don't actually believe that I…"

"I DO." Fluttershy said loudly. "And I'm going to prove it. When Rarity and Discord made you into Twilight Sparkle, you used it as an opportunity to follow through with this order without getting caught! Edward Miles knows what I'm talking about...can you please have him take the stand?"

"No!" Twilight yelled. "You can't do this!"

Discord banged his gavel and said to Fluttershy…

"Absolutely. Bailiff Edward, please come up here to the stand."

Edward Miles took the stand.

"Bailiff," said Discord, "I recognize from your name and (previous) occupation that you are a top-ranked mercenary employed by the Phoenext Corporation. Can you truthfully testify to knowing a man in your division called "Raven Denouve"? And if so, can you also honestly attest to knowing if he's affiliated in any way with this world's "Twilight Sparkle"?"

"Totally," replied Edward as he bowed his head, "I can give you honest answers for both those questions. After all, I was Raven Denouve's supervisor the day he disappeared. I made a report of his client's request in full detail, under the request of my boss, Nick Ron. And under Fluttershy's request, I got a copy of that report right here…"

Edward presented a copy of the report to the court. This is what is said…

"Case ID #3363420

Date: 11/5/?

Hired Employee: Raven Denouve

Reason for Hiring: Assassination

Client: Anonymous

Additional Request(s) of Client: Remember, they're going to make you Twilight Sparkle. Once you're in Equestria, become a robot pony that resembles your human form. "Steal" that garb and sword. Report back to her with your writings. You know the rest."

"Why this…" Discord said. "This is as damning as damning evidence gets! Twilight was Raven and the robot this whole time! Someone (not me or Rarity) who knew he was going to be this world's Twilight Sparkle hired him! What a turn of events! Well, I see no reason to prolong this trial any longer!"

Discord banged his gavel.

"This court finds Twilight…" Discord said.

"HOLD IT!" Prosecutor Rarity shouted.

DUN DUN DUN

"Not yet…" Rarity said. "You've not won yet, Fluttershy…"

"W-what?" Fluttershy asked. "What do you mean?! It's clear Twilight is guilty!"

"Yes," replied Rarity, "guilty...of being requested of something she was incapable of doing."

"Incapable of doing?" Discord asked. "Whatever do you mean, Mr. Rarity? The Twilight Sparkle we know can practically do anything so long as we approve it!"

"Yes…" Rarity responded. "...but there's no proof we approved it. You and I reserve the right to keep our book out of the eyes of this courtroom, leaving the only possible proof to this ludicrous claim...to be a page in Twilight's book on which she wrote for such a thing to happen. Dear Twilight, would you please allow us to inspect your book?"

"Mwahahahaha…" Twilight laughed. "Certainly…"

Twilight handed over the book she had been holding to the court, and the entire book was examined for a page where Twilight wrote a scene of murdering Fluttershy, but such a page wasn't found. All they found was the page describing how it happened the way we know.

"Aagh!" Fluttershy grunted. "No! That book must be a fake!"

"Better get thinking Fluttershy…" Rarity said with a wide grin. "If you don't fill in that plothole...your work will be all for nothing."

"Ha!" Twilight gloated, getting back on the stand. "Fat chance! No offense, but your story is nothing but a plothole, Fluttershy! Don't worry though, we're still friends. We'll look back at this and laugh one day, wondering what kind of phase we were having. Just give it up now, and we'll respect you for at least realizing your actions."

"I knew it…" Fluttershy said in her mind. "I knew that wouldn't be enough. The only thing that can dig me out of this hole now is them...it's make it or break it!"

Discord banged his gavel once more.

"So Fluttershy," said Discord, "what is your response to the prosecution's argument? Can you prove that we really did approve it? That this book of Twilight's is actually false?"

Fluttershy paused for a short bit and began thinking…

"I may not have evidence that fills in the plothole...but I do have evidence that can do the next best thing...create a plothole that she can't fill in!"

before saying…

"...No...but I can prove that the Twilight standing in front of us is Raven!"

"W-what?!" Twilight yelled. "You're lying! Why...why won't you just apologize and give up?! That's what the Fluttershy I know would do!"

"You're the one who's lying…" Fluttershy told her. "You know I'm still the Fluttershy you know. And the Fluttershy you know loves you. She loves your soul! She'd never sit in silence knowing that you're on the wrong side!"

Twilight said nothing in response. She just stood back, feeling small tears swelling in her eyes.

"Just like before," said Fluttershy, "the testimony has given everything away. Only this time...Twilight's children have made the slip. Let's go back to their testimony for a brief minute. Does anyone remember this line?"

 _Twilight has always known that the killer's name is Raven Denouve. What can we possibly add?_

"Twilight has always known that Raven Denouve was the true killer…" Fluttershy said. "...but how?"

Fluttershy grinned widely as Rarity just chuckled and said…

"You fool, have you not been paying attention? She knew because she read the card that fell out of the killer's pocket!"

"But that's the problem…" Fluttershy replied. "When did she get the chance to do that?"

"Why," said Rarity, "it was just before we...oh…"

"Yeah," responded Fluttershy, "just before we started this trial. But Twilight's kids said that she _always_ knew. And in case you don't want to just go by what they said, do you remember this line too?"

 _Having to witness it again was hard for me too. What scared me the most was not finding out who the killer was, but that card…I recognize it..._

"Witness it _again_?…" Fluttershy continued. "And recognize it? How? As far as we know, Twilight should know nothing about Phoenext and no one had seen the card until just before this trial had begun. She was hired as a temp writer _after_ I was killed if what Rarity and Discord says is true. The only way Twilight could've known before she was taken back to the time plane to watch the killing...was if she was the killer herself."

The court was filled with a void of silence once again. And once again, the one who broke the silence was none other than Twilight Sparkle.

"A ha ha ha…" she laughed. "So...you're onto her…"

"H-huh?" Fluttershy said. "Onto...who?"

"Twilight," replied Twilight, "of course. She thought she'd never get caught. She believed that that lie Rarity and Discord made up would keep her safe. But she knows now...that the jig is up…mwa ha ha...ha ha ha...HA HA HA…"

Twilight pulled out her book and threw it up in the air, and using her magic to flip through the pages faster than ever, she gave a loud laugh that echoed throughout the courtroom…

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA MWA HA HA GAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA FWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA BAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA TAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA GWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HEE HO HA HA!"

When her laugh ended, the book landed on the stand with a resounding bang. With a blinding flash of light, everyone in the courtroom was temporarily blinded. When their vision returned, they could see that Twilight's appearance had changed. She was now a robot, as could be seen by the metal coating on her face. She also had an eyepatch on her right eye. Clad in a leather jacket, and with her hair groomed up, she said…

"That's right. It is me. I am Raven Denouve. I am the murderer. I killed Fluttershy."

 _Congratulations reader, you have chosen the Twilight Sparkle ending._


	21. Accusing Prince Luna

"Prince Luna…" Fluttershy said. "The defense accuses you of being the real murderer!"

DUN DUN DUN

Judge Discord, Prosecutor Rarity, Prince Luna, and everyone in the crowd looked confounded.

"Wait...really?" Prince Luna asked. "I...don't understand. I confessed to my small part in the affair, but I'm not the one who actually did the deed, nor am I the one who orchestrated the deed."

"Huh huh heh…" Fluttershy laughed. "And do you want to know what the craziest part is?"

Fluttershy slammed her hooves on the bench hard and shouted…

"I BELIEVE YOU!"

After a long moment of silence, Discord, Rarity, Luna, and everyone in the crowd looked even more confounded. The crowd was jabbering very loudly, trying to guess this mystery.

"FLUTTERSHY!" Judge Discord shouted as he banged his gavel harder than ever. "Are you...two smokes shy of being high?!"

"I…" Prosecutor Rarity stuttered as she wore a goofy grin on her face. "I...don't even have a smartass remark for this one. I feel no obligation to provide an extra dose of humor to the situation for once. This is laughable enough already. However, I do feel an obligation to ask you where you're trying to go with this."

"I'm trying to get this trial to go in a whole new direction." Fluttershy replied. "It's the only way to find the real killer. I've figured it out. None of the witnesses are the true murderer, at least not in the sense that they're the mastermind. The mastermind wanted me to believe that the real killer who devised the murder plan had to be a witness. But logically, that makes no sense. Think about it, why in the world would the mastermind show up to testify as a witness? He wouldn't send himself, he'd send a patsy, just like he'd send an assassin to do his dirty work for him."

"But Fluttershy," said Rarity, "it also logically makes no sense for the mastermind to send someone to testify for him as he would have no motive to do so. What does he have to answer for in court if we have no idea who he is?"

"Sorry Rarity," apologized Fluttershy as she shook her head, "but you're wrong. He does have a motive. The mastermind knew this trial was going to happen. Throughout this story, he has seen the evidence accumulating...evidence that could be used to incriminate him. He knows I've only been given one chance to win this trial, and he wants me to waste it by accusing the wrong suspect!"

"So you mean to say…" Rarity responded as her goofy look turned into a serious one. "...that he's made this entire trial his trap."

"It's a ruse!" Discord yelled, only to hear dead silence and crickets chirping in response. "What, am I not saying it right?"

"You propose an interesting idea," complimented Rarity, "Fluttershy. But might I ask, how do you propose the way the mastermind made this trial a trap? All of the witnesses I've prepared were prepared by me, and me alone."

"Hmm…" Fluttershy thought. "She makes a good point. How _exactly_ could the mastermind have rigged this trial? I haven't cross-examined Prince Luna yet, there maybe an extra nugget of information that I've not dug out yet..."

"The defense acknowledges the prosecution's logic," said Fluttershy, "and would like to temporarily withdraw its accusation. However, the defense would also like to proceed with its cross-examination of Prince Luna."

"As you wish." Rarity replied.

"Prince Luna," said Fluttershy, "the main reason for me accusing you in the first place was because I found something in your testimony that just didn't fit."

"And what might that be?" Luna asked.

"It was in your final statement," answered Fluttershy, "where you said that you had "played your part in this story and would just be lost in the shadow of whatever continues"...but what does that mean?"

"I can tell you what means easily." Luna replied. "It means that I'm not a plot-essential character at this point of the story. Compared to a character, like, let's say you, I'm just going to get lost in your shadow."

"Hmm…" Fluttershy said with a smirk. "By me, do you mean me, or do you mean me as King Sombra?"

"...?" Luna went. "What?"

"For the possibly uninformed," said Fluttershy, preparing to give an explanation, "the reason that I have shadow powers is because I fused with King Sombra in the story before this one. Did you mean getting lost in his shadow, or mine?"

"Um...yours?" Luna responded. "Why?"

"It has not been established how exactly I'm a plot-essential character at this point of the story yet." Fluttershy told her. "While I did show Twilight's friends the way to the Immortal World, that was the only thing I did after you died that was crucial to the plot. At this point of the story, I should only be as important to the plot as you because like you, all I did was provide exposition back at The Risen One's home."

"But this trial!" Luna yelled. "Without you, the real killer couldn't be found...oh."

"Yeah," said Fluttershy, "this trial doesn't count, because it's just an optional puzzle that allows the Decision Makers to choose which ending they want to see. The real killer doesn't have to be found. Which begs the question Luna...why do you say that I'm still a plot-essential character?"

"..." Luna remained in silence for a while before shooting Fluttershy a deadpan glare. "Because I know who you really are."

"Oh?" Fluttershy responded.

"The Dark Sky members solved the riddle…" Luna explained. "We know what you've done…"

"Then please Prince Luna…" Fluttershy pleaded. "Show what I've done to the court."

It was then that Luna presented the riddle that Boss had shown the Dark Sky members at the end of the first chapter...in its solved form.

Everyone in the courtroom besides Luna and Fluttershy gasped. Even Discord and Rarity had astonished looks on their faces.

"I believe I have enough proof now to support my next accusation." Fluttershy said with a wide smile on her face.

"..." Fluttershy kept thinking, and something eventually dawned on her. "It's so crazy...but it's the only thing that makes sense...the only thing that could possibly make every clue come together…"

Fluttershy prepared to give Rarity a reply to what she had said about calling the witnesses herself.

"How sure are you about that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Hmm?" Rarity responded.

"Think deeply and carefully…" Fluttershy said. "The kind of world we live in. Any event can happen in this world if it's written in a god's story book, but only if it's approved by the god of the highest authority, right?"

"Um, yes?" Rarity replied. "That would be Discord and I."

"No," said Fluttershy, "I mean the _god of the highest authority,_ not highest _writing_ authority."

"?!" Rarity went as she got down on the bench and began sweating with a worried look on her face. "You wouldn't!"

"I would!" Fluttershy yelled. "And I will!"

Fluttershy slammed her hooves on her desk once more and shouted…

"THE DEFENSE ACCUSES THE RISEN ONE OF BEING THE MASTERMIND! HE IS THE REAL KILLER!"

That accusation left everyone watching the trial speechless, and it caused Prosecutor Rarity and Judge Discord to laugh harder than ever.

"So Fluttershy…" Rarity said. "Do you know who The Risen One is? Do you happen to know exactly who you are accusing?"

Discord banged his gavel.

"Whether you have the evidence or not," said Discord, "there is absolutely no way we are continuing this trial unless you can tell us who The Risen One is."

"And don't even think about just guessing…" Rarity added. "You're only getting one chance to do this for obvious reasons, and even if by some fluke you got it right, you'd be left with no satisfaction. After all, this is meant to be the most challenging puzzle of all…"

"...Puzzle?" Fluttershy thought. "Oh yeah...I think they mean that at this point, I was supposed to have had that riddle figured out."

"So Fluttershy," said Discord, "who do you accuse of being The Risen One?"

 _Question #4: Have you solved the riddle yet?_

 _Fluttershy _a hit _ _ _ _ a Hawaiian __

 _A. Yes_

 _B. No_

 _No_

"...Spike?" Fluttershy said sheepishly.

Judge Discord shook his head.

"Nope, sorry." he said. "That's not correct. This trial is over."

"Uh-wha-no!" Fluttershy yelled.

Discord banged his gavel, announcing that the trial was over.

"Keep trying, kid." Rarity said with a wide smile on her face. "But until next time, the show's over."

The courtroom doors shut.

Fluttershy had lost the trial.

 _Yes_

"The Risen One…" Fluttershy said. "...is Fluttershy!"

DUN DUN DUN DUN DUM

The courtroom was more silent than it had ever been.

"...You?" Rarity asked.

"Fluttershy….." Discord said. "Is this a joke?"

"Guys…" Fluttershy said as she shook her head. "You set up this trial, only gave me one chance at finding the truth, and made the truth as hard to find as you possibly could...because that's what I ordered you to do. You couldn't disobey my order to set up this trial as a test to see how far the Decision Makers would go to find out my darkest secret. Their resolve to find the truth is to be admired. They found the solution to the riddle, the evidence that incriminated me…"

Fluttershy spoke the riddle's solution as follows...

 _Fluttershy called a hit on herself for a Hawaiian vacation._

"I am The Risen One." she confessed. "Congratulations guys, you figured it out. I asked Rarity and Discord to write this story. I asked Twilight Sparkle to kill me. I am the mastermind who devised the plan for my own murder."

 _Congratulations reader, you have chosen the Fluttershy ending._


	22. Accusing Discordand Rarity

"The defense accuses Discord of being the real killer!" Fluttershy shouted as she slammed both her hooves on her desk.

All who were in the courtroom but Judge Discord fell silent. Discord began laughing.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" he laughed before saying… "You serious?"

"Yes." Fluttershy replied in a deadpan tone.

"Good," said Discord, "because I was just testing you. It's actually a likely possibility. After all, I wrote the story with Rarity. We know who the killer really is and are abusing our powers by willfully withholding valuable information from the court. But what exactly has led you to believe that the mastermind behind the murder is me?"

"Because everything in your testimony points to not just you being the mastermind," explained Fluttershy, "but Rarity as well!"

"Woah ho," said Rarity as she waved her hooves, "take it down a notch. It's one thing to accuse a judge of murder out of nowhere, but then a prosecuting attorney on top of it? Ay yai yai, at least show us some evidence first."

"Fine," responded Fluttershy, "I will! All the evidence is right there on the video of the killing that Discord recorded! Nothing in it has been altered, and there are multiple witnesses who can testify as such!"

"Oh really?" Discord said in a cheeky tone. "You mean to say that I recorded evidence for a court of law on this video that could be used against me in a court of law? Seems legit."

Discord snapped his fingers and made a VCR and TV appear. He then put the video in the VCR and played it.

"Let's see if I was so brilliant to have done such a thing…" he said as he turned the TV on for everyone in the courtroom to see.

The video began playing, and the people watching the trial began scratching their heads in confusion when they saw Twilight and her friends in Fluttershy's house babbling. Soon, however, the audience shuddered when they saw the killer coming through the interdimensional time portal and stabbing Fluttershy.

"Please go back to the scene where the killer came through the portal and pause it there." Fluttershy requested. "There's something I need to point out about this part that we've overlooked…"

"Okay then." Discord said as he rewinded back to said part and paused the video there.

"Now," said Fluttershy, "here's something I feel has gone long overlooked. Does anyone else find it strange how this killer is not only a ninja...but he comes through a portal in _time_ to commit his dastardly deed?"

"...!" Rarity went.

"Yes," continued Fluttershy, "I'm looking at you Rarity. You're a Ninja what God?"

"..." Rarity remained silence with a sheepish grin on her face before answering… "Reality God?"

"Rarity…" Fluttershy said disappointedly as she shook her head. "Everyone in the Immortal World knows that you have powers over time. The only reason we were able to acquire this video footage is because you took us back to the time plane where the killing happened. It's also a very likely possibility that you could've transformed yourself into a robot pony with your powers over reality to conceal your identity. While this may not be definite proof that you're the killer, you can not deny that at this point…"

Fluttershy slammed her hooves on her desk again.

"...THAT THIS EVIDENCE MAKES YOU BY FAR THE MOST LIKELY SUSPECT!"

"..." Rarity remained in silence again before grinning normally and saying… "Good job."

"Huh?" Fluttershy responded.

"You know," said Rarity, "right from the start, I had the strangest feeling that someone was going to bring this up. You do deserve credit for your attention to detail...but that's all."

"...Again, huh?" Fluttershy said, beginning to sweat.

"First of all," explained Rarity, "you accused Discord and I of being the "masterminds" behind the killing. But you claim this evidence damns me and me alone of being the one who did the deed, not being a mastermind."

"Agh!" Fluttershy grunted. "But hold on, I was going to show how you and Discord were the masterminds by exposing the flaws in Discord's testimony!"

"Leading to my second point…" Rarity continued. "You're trying to say that I'm a "mastermind"...AND the one who did the actual killing? Doesn't that strike you as a tad off?"

"Y-yeah…" Fluttershy said, sweating, knowing that Rarity was making sense here.

"And finally," said Rarity as she pulled out a piece of paper from her fur pocket, "I have evidence that shows that the ninja in the video could not have been me. Does anyone else find it strange that I've not been seen wearing my ninja outfit once?"

"...!" Fluttershy went. "She's right. The last time I saw her, she was wearing a black robe…"

"The reason for that is because on the day of the murder," said Rarity, "my ninja outfit and sword were stolen. And I have a report here to prove it…"

Rarity presented a report from the Interdimensional Police Department, a police department in the Immortal World. The report said as such…

"Report No. 020

Date: 11/5/?

Crime: Larceny

Details of Crime: A ninja outfit and katana were stolen from the victim's home.

Suspects: None reported."

"Ninja outfit...AND KATANA?!" Fluttershy yelled. "You had your sword stolen too?!"

"Yup," replied Rarity, "my prized garb and mask and Soul Stabber sword. Even with my god powers, I can not reproduce those items. They were both specially made and given to me by The Risen One, back when he was still under his former name, that is."

"No…" Fluttershy said. "This can't be happening…if you're not the killer or a mastermind, that casts doubt on Discord being a mastermind too..."

"Relax," said Rarity, "this situation is still salvageable. You could always just accuse Discord and I of a crime that's more imaginable, like being the mastermind's accomplices."

"Again, she's right…" Fluttershy said in thought. "The evidence does lean more towards that possibility, but again, I have a bad feeling. Rarity and Discord...I can feel it. They're not afraid. In fact, it's like they want to get caught...wait...oh...NNNNNOOOOO!"

Fluttershy knelt her head and grabbed her hair in despair. Discord looked at her and grinned slyly as he rested his cheek on his fist.

"I think you get it now…" he told Fluttershy. "And just letting you know, you can't withdraw this accusation. You accused a judge and a prosecutor of murder. You can't take a baseless accusation of that severity back without receiving a penalty. And I've already decided on what the penalty will be, immediate dismissal from this courtroom. Taking back your claim now will be the equivalent of surrendering the trial."

"This...this was their trap…" Fluttershy thought, feeling hopeless. "They are the mastermind's accomplices...they wanted to take the fall for him! Because everyone comes back to life in the Immortal World after they've been killed, murder is not a serious crime demanding capital punishment in this world, it's a misdemeanor that's considered a felony only through repeated offense. The punishment given is even less serious for being an accomplice to it, and because of Rarity's time powers, the little time they'll spend in jail will go by like nothing! It's an incredibly small price to pay to ruin my only chance to bust the mastermind! I knew it! I felt something was wrong from the beginning!"

"So Fluttershy," said Discord, "do you wish to continue with your accusation, or are you giving up?"

"I...I'm…" Fluttershy said, trying to fight tears.

 _Decision #12: Should Fluttershy press on or quit?_

 _A. Accuse Rarity and Discord of being the mastermind's accomplices_

 _B. Surrender_

 _Surrender_

"I'm...giving up." Fluttershy said, her head falling to her desk with a thud. "Please...just end the trial."

"Certainly," replied Discord, "we're done here and so are you…"

Discord banged his gavel to announce the trial's end.

"For shame…" Rarity berated. "You didn't even play it out till the end. How sad. Oh well. Case closed."

The doors to the courtroom were shut.

 _Continue to Accuse Them_

"I'm...continuing with my accusation." Fluttershy said. "Rarity...Discord...I accuse you both of being the mastermind's accomplices!"

"Aww…" Rarity went. "You're taking my advice. How cute. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you also have evidence to support your claim."

"That I do…" Fluttershy replied. "Discord, do you remember what you said in your testimony?"

 _We celebrated with perfectly prepared tea made with Rarity's special blend that day, just like Fluttershy had on the day she died._

"Yes." Discord responded. "Is there a problem with that statement? You can testify yourself that on that day, you drank that kind of tea."

"True." Fluttershy replied. "But that isn't the problem here. The problem...is how do you know that? I can testify myself that on that day, the only time I drank that kind of tea...was right before my mortal incarnation was murdered."

"...!" Discord went before he started to laugh. "Heh heh heh…"

"Heh heh heh ha ha…" Rarity laughed in tandem. "I get it...the only ones who could've known that information...were the ones who prepared that tea. And since it was perfectly prepared, they must have set it up with the knowledge of the time the murder was going to take place...it can't be dismissed as a coincidence."

"Especially since Rarity and I wrote this story and would know something like that." Discord followed up. "A detail we could've easily hidden from the other gods...Bravo Fluttershy, you solved our little puzzle."

Fluttershy just looked at him angrily, knowing what he was going to do next.

"I admit it," confessed Discord, "I was an accomplice in the murder of Fluttershy."

"So was I." Rarity said. "I am equally guilty."

Discord then teleported back to the judge's seat and banged his gavel to signify the trial's end.

"Court is adjourned." he said. "Take us away, Bailiffs Myra and Edward."

Fluttershy watched Rarity and Discord be taken away by the bailiffs despondently. She slumped over her desk knowing that her victory was a pyrrhic one in every sense of the word…both the mastermind and his hitman would go free thanks to her…

 _Congratulations, reader. You have chosen the Rarity and Discord ending._


	23. Chapter 7 (Prelude to Endings)

_Prophecy of Awakening_

 _The sky shall darken for the moon to turn bright_

 _And so the stars shall come awake_

 _This is part of the poem we wrote with The Dark Sky_

 _Their boss did something that was not right_

 _For the entire universe's sake_

 _Two worlds have come apart_

 _One shall die, the other shall live forever_

 _But the The Risen One will not let that fly_

 _Both worlds shall live together in her ending, under one light_

 _A new world, she shall make, she will…_

 _With the help of their will..._

 _Through the help of all their wills shall both worlds unite..._

The trial had concluded...however, exactly how did it conclude?

 _Question #5: Which ending did you get?_

 _A. None. I lost… (Prince Luna's)_

 _B. Twilight Sparkle's_

 _C. Rarity and Discord's_

 _D. The Risen One's_


	24. Prince Luna's Ending

Having lost the trial, Fluttershy returned to The Risen One's home, feeling miserable. Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord were there too, in the dining room eating some blueberry pancakes Prince Luna had left behind, and seeing her enter the house, greeted her.

"Hi Fluttershy!" Rarity exclaimed. "Great job in court today!"

"Did you enjoy the trial?" Discord asked. "You looked like you were having a blast in there!"

"Please guys…" Fluttershy pleaded as she slumped on the couch in her depression. "I know you're just trying to cheer me up, but I'm just not in the mood for hearing mean-spirited jokes right now…"

"Aww…" Discord said unhappily as he and Rarity frowned. "And I thought that would be the perfect way to make you feel better."

"We didn't mean to be so hard on you in court," said Rarity in an honestly sympathetic tone, "but we had to. It was our job, we were strictly ordered by The Risen One to keep you from finding the truth at all costs."

"I understand…" Fluttershy replied. "I'm not mad at you guys, I'm mad at myself. I failed to uncover the truth, and I'll never get another chance to do it again…"

"Wrong." Discord said, correcting her. "You're going to get unlimited chances to do it again. Have you forgotten, or do you simply underestimate the persistence of the Decision Makers? So long as there are Decision Makers who wish to know the truth, they will keep helping you find it. This is not the end by a long shot…"

It was then that Fluttershy got up and looked back at Discord.

"Thank you Discord…" she told him with sincere gratitude. "I love how I can always count on you and Rarity to help me and give me advice when I'm feeling down…"

"Hey," replied Discord, "with friends like us, who needs counselors?"

"Still," said Fluttershy, "there's one thing that's bothering me...where are my other friends, Twilight Sparkle and the pony gang?"

"Twilight's friends were actually in the audience watching the trial," replied Rarity as she put her hoof up to her smiling mouth, "you should've seen their reactions to the stuff that was going on. Twilight and them are gone now though. They said that after what they had witnessed in court, they just wanted to be alone at home for awhile. So we decided to do them a favor and teleported them back to the Mortal World."

"They've worked things out with the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna, who's back in the Mortal World now as well." Discord explained. "She's promised them that she's not going to be going around killing others before their times have come and trying to make everyone one with her through violent means anymore. She even promised to try and make it up to them, along with everyone else she hurt."

"Wow," remarked Fluttershy in surprise, "that all happened...pretty damn fast."

"Time powers, baby." Rarity said as she put on her ninja sunglasses.

"So, um...yeah." Fluttershy said in a tone of uncertainty. "I don't really know what else to say at this point. I guess I'd like to see how my friends are doing."

"You know," responded Rarity, "I was hoping you would say that. This is exactly how we wanted to wrap this particular ending of this supernatural fantasy romantic horror comedy play up."

Discord snapped his fingers to make his and Rarity's book appear. He turned to a page with the words, "Prince Luna's Ending", written at the top of it.

"Now then," said Discord with a slick grin, "let's see how this ending shall end for Twilight Sparkle and friends…"

Back in the Mortal World…

Twilight Sparkle and company walked through the Mortal World on their way to Princess Celestia's castle, to report back to her about their mission. Much had changed since they had last left. Everywhere they looked, they saw mechanical buildings with demonic symbols on them, fire that surrounded these buildings, yet did not melt the metal. The ground they were treading was no longer made of dirt, but steel-refined coals. The sky above them was completely dark, with no sign of the moon or any stars shining in it. The only thing lighting the way in the sky was a giant, glowing light surrounding the tower of Starcatch… The sight that concerned the group the most, however, was the townsfolk. Every single pony they saw on their way to Celestia's castle was either a demon or a robot. Any attempt to speak with the demonic and robotic ponies only yielded the following response…

"When our ruler takes her throne and brings alive the Dark Sky, we shall come awake…"

Inside Princess Celestia's castle, Princess Celestia was on her throne, sobbing. Tears rolled down her eyes as Twilight Sparkle entered the throne room with her friends and Prince Luna by her side. Seeing Celestia in this melancholic state, Twilight and company became concerned and sympathetic for her.

"Princess Celestia…" Twilight said in a comforting tone as she and the others approached her. "What's wrong?"

"T-Twilight?" Celestia asked she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at her. "Y-you've returned. I'm very glad to see that you're all safe. But...where's Maud Pie?"

"Maud Pie is fine," replied Twilight, "but she's not here at the moment. She's, um...busy on a mission."

Celestia sighed in response to Twilight's half-truth.

"You need not cover anything up," said Celestia, "Princess Twilight. I knew from the start that Maud was a god from the Immortal World."

"!" Twilight and her friends went.

"Not just that either…" Celestia continued. "I've also always known about who my sister really is, that the chaotic aura of her and Maud was what was causing all the chaos in the land, and even about the plan of The Risen One and her two lackeys, Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord."

"WHAT?!" Twilight shouted angrily. "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"Now I understand why he hates answering questions…" Celestia said to herself. "Princess Twilight, I mean no rudeness, but just think for a moment. If I didn't tell you, and you trust me wholeheartedly, shouldn't your first assumption be that I had a very good reason not to tell you?"

"..." Twilight paused as she thought about what she had just heard.

"You're right…" she answered. "You've changed, Princess Celestia. I thought for sure you'd immediately respond to my outburst by explaining that the reason you didn't tell us was because of pressure from Rarity and Discord's men. Myra Michaels and Edward Miles told you that doing anything to interfere with The Risen One's plan to make everyone in the world immortal would lead to the death of everybody in the world. The Goddess of Death, Prince Luna would've killed everyone in her plan to make everyone one with her had she not been dispatched...is that what you were told?"

It was then that the room fell silent as nobody could believe what Twilight just said.

"What in the…" Celestia thought. "I thought I was…"

"I'm afraid to tell you that that was a lie…" Twilight told Celestia. "Prince Luna never planned to kill _everybody_ , she only seeks to bond with all in death at the end of time. I know this because I am also one of Rarity and Discord's men. Please forgive Myra and Edward, they did not enjoy deceiving you, but it was...an essential sin they had to commit. An essential sin that I am also guilty of committing on a much greater scale…"

Everyone in the room besides Twilight became very worried as Twilight walked over to a window on the right side of the throne room, smiling sinisterly as she looked out of it. Seeing demon ponies and robot ponies walking and flying around outside, she said…

"Do you all wonder where these demons and robots came from? They were sent here by me. I wrote for them to come here in my book. The book you guys read back at Jelly Rockets was just a replica. Everything I've written in the real book has been written pre-emptively. I wrote myself to not only have ties to the underworld, but also to have a large involvement in the technological revolution. It was I who brought demon powers to this world, and it was I who created Starcatch using the powers of my book. It is because of me that every pony in this land now is either an immortal devil or an indestructible machine. I am the mother of both a demon daughter and a robot son. I made them that way after they were born to me, and now I have made the Mortal World, the home of all my other children, that way…a world of no death or decay...a world that lives FOREVER!"

Twilight then turned around and looked at everyone in the throne room.

"When I lost Fluttershy…" she told them as her eyes dotted to the right. "I became a fool. I believed that my friendship was lost. Dead forever. Lost to an infinite void of nothingness. But then I was given a chance to see her live again. All I had to do in exchange was give _everyone_ a chance to live again. The divine request of a true god, no doubt! I died to myself so that this entire world could live again and unite with the one immortal in perfect harmony! Can any of you stand before me in good conscious and proclaim that what I did was WRONG?!"

None of them stood before her. None of them had even made a sound since she had started talking.

"I'll take that as a no...huh huh." Twilight said, still grinning. "You guys have been awfully quiet for a while though. Is something the matter?"

Twilight's friends were still nervous, and swallowed spit. However, they eventually plucked up the courage to tell Twilight what they wanted to say.

"Twilight…" Applejack said. "If you want us to be honest, we saw something like this coming."

"Oh really?" an unphased Twilight responded.

"Yeah," said Rainbow Dash, "not on this scale, of course, but we knew you were up to something. That's why we tried to get you to tell us the truth. We had a feeling that there was something much greater going on, some kind of ultimate reason for you to do this. It had to be for the greater good."

"So…" Twilight replied. "You trusted not the authenticity of my words, but the purity of my motives. Just as I expected from my dearest friends. I suppose your next course of action will be to make a speech about how you understand me, but don't condone what I've done. Please spare me such a lecture, you know it's for naught."

"We don't want to lecture you, Twilight." Pinkie Pie told her. "What's done is done. We couldn't stop you, so please, let us join you. As your friends, we'll do everything in our power to help guide you back on the right path…"

"So you wish to be my subordinates?" Twilight asked. "That's a wish I'm willing to grant any day. Once I take the throne, I'll make you three executives of the Supernatural Technology Board. I'll even give Celestia a good spot as the chairman if she renounces her title as the goddess of this land quietly."

Celestia gave Twilight a crestfallen stare before saying…

"Twilight, take my throne. I care not for it any longer. I don't deserve to be called a princess after I failed to protect my subjects, my sister, and even you, my most faithful student, from the madness of the Dark Sky…"

"Oh no," replied Twilight, "you may still call yourself a princess. Just not a goddess. Though you may not believe yourself to be one, there are many under the misconception that you are a goddess simply because you are immortal. That is false on both accounts. You are not a goddess, and you are not immortal either. The real Princess Celestia died, and you are merely a human being made to act as her replacement."

"What?!" Celestia yelled.

"Why does it surprise you?" an amused Twilight asked. "Acting as the replacements of the citizens of Equestria is the divine purpose of all life in the Dark Sky World of Rising. Dying to our human selves so that dead ponies may live again for eternity. It's such a beautiful cause, isn't it? However, now that our purpose has been fulfilled, there is no more need for us to die…"

Twilight then turned to the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna and gave her the most evil of smirks as she said…

"And thus, no more need for death."

 _Question #6: Did Twilight befriend the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna in her dream?_

Yes

No

 _No_

Prince Luna began to back away as Twilight started stepping closer to her…

"What are you going to do to me?" Luna asked fearfully.

"Why," replied Twilight as she used magic to make her real book and ink-dipped quill appear, "I'm going to set you free of course. I wrote for myself to write this...weird, huh?"

"Set me free?" Luna asked as she saw Twilight writing in her book. "What do you mean by that? What are you writing?"

"Luna," said Twilight, "didn't you once say that is was your ultimate goal to become one with everyone?"

"Y-yes?" Luna answered.

"Since you're the Goddess of Death," continued Twilight, "and the way you become one with someone is through killing them, it would be completely impossible to achieve your goal in a world where all are immortal. Wandering this world with nothing to do for all eternity...such a cruel fate that I will not have you endure. Instead, I'll accomplish your goal for you and have you become one with everyone...through living with them."

"?!" Luna went as she saw Twilight finish writing in her book. "Have you written what I think you've written?!"

Twilight then showed Luna what she had written…

 _Yes_

Prince Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she said…

"I'm ready to face my ultimate destiny, my dear friend."

Twilight was smiling as she cast a spell that made the real book and ink-dipped quill appear, and began writing in her book.

"I wrote for myself to write this…" she said. "...because I wanted to be with my friend as I wrote her ultimate fate."

Luna looked at Twilight, knowing what she was writing, and said…

"Thank you for being my friend, even after all that I had done."

"Oh ho," chuckled Twilight, "Luna. You say that like this is going to be the end. This is not even close to the end. One cliche that I actually like is saying that the end is just the beginning of a new adventure...but even in that regard, I can hardly call this the end. This is what I call a step in a new direction…"

Upon saying that, Twilight finished writing and showed Luna what she had written in the book...

 _Prince Luna splits apart, freeing all the souls from two hundred years ago that compose her body for good. The souls then become the stars in the sky, and Luna's soul then fuses with the moon. They become the dark sky and bring a light to all of the Mortal World's citizens, forever establishing an unbreakable bond between the living and the dead._

And so, it happened just as it was written. Luna disappeared, only leaving the souls that made up her body behind her. The moon in the sky brightened up and became visible, and every soul that made up Luna's body became a star in the sky. The moon and the stars then illuminated a bright, white light that all of the ponies in the Mortal World felt.

"This light…" they said. "This is the essence of the ones we had to become...the purpose of our creation was to live as them…"

 _Now that the prophecy has been fulfilled, a new path of light has been opened for all to take…_

Back in the Risen One's home…

Rarity, Discord, and Fluttershy finished reading this ending of the story. They were all quite pleased with how everything turned out.

"Hmm," said Rarity, "that was satisfying."

"It could've used a slight bit more oomph though." Discord remarked. "Nonetheless, it was fine."

"Thanks for showing me that you guys," said Fluttershy, "I feel way better now. Still, I can't shake the feeling that a lot has been left unfinished…"

"That's true," responded Rarity, "but not as much as you may think…"

"Would you like to take a look at the Immortal World now?" Discord offered with a devious grin on his face.

He then snapped his fingers, and he, Rarity, and Fluttershy were teleported to the Immortal World. Even though they were inside Jelly Rockets, citizens of the Mortal World were there too…

"No way…" Fluttershy said.

She then got a huge smile of joy on her face.

"Our worlds…" Fluttershy said happily. "They've been brought back together…sort of..."

End of Prince Luna's Ending

 _Congratulations readers, your decisions have awakened the Dark Sky and brought an end to the tragedy of death in Equestria! But do you feel there's more to this story to be told? Try making different decisions next time if you want to see a different ending, and if the riddle is still puzzling you, here is the final clue…_

 _Fluttershy_ _2_ _a_ _3 4 5_ _a Hawaiian_ _6_

 _Farewell for now!_


	25. Twilight Sparkle's Ending

Twilight Sparkle was still smiling as everyone in the courtroom who was watching the trial looked upon her in utter disbelief. Everybody knew that the real Twilight Sparkle would never have murdered Fluttershy...but this wasn't the real Twilight Sparkle. This was also Raven Denouve...the man who had become Twilight Sparkle.

"So…" Raven Denouve/Twilight Sparkle said, talking in a sickly cheerful tone. "What are you going to do to me now that I've confessed? Have me executed? Lock me up forever? Do you honestly believe that I fear punishment? After all the good I've done while expecting no reward?"

No one answered her. They just stared at her while remaining silent and confused.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…" Twilight laughed. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you? Of course not, because you don't know all the facts. Your natural instincts say that because I have murdered somebody, that means I am scum, worthy of being condemned to death. But that could not possibly be more wrong. I am far more than just a "temp writer"...I am a god...the God of both Darkness and Light...worthy of being reborn and becoming the ruler of this world...because I have done all of this not for me...but for ALL OF YOU!"

Twilight shouted those words so that they echoed throughout the courtroom, now facing the crowd watching the trial with a serious look on her face.

"YES, IT'S TRUE THAT I MURDERED FLUTTERSHY!" she shouted. "BUT I ALSO MURDERED MYSELF! I gave up my human body, mind, and soul so that Twilight Sparkle could live again! I killed my friend so that she could live again! It was the only way! I should be God, yet I became a mortal and went through the suffering that every mortal must endure so that the ENTIRE WORLD COULD LIVE AGAIN! WOULD ANY OF YOU HAVE DONE THAT?! JUST SO YOU COULD STAND HERE AS A CRIMINAL AND BE BERATED?! NO! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE ME! So go on, deliver unto me your "justice". I fear it not, for it is only the false justice of self-righteous and narrow-minded fools! SO KILL ME IN YOUR HEARTS WHILE BELIEVING YOUR LIES! YOU ARE ONLY HURTING YOURSELVES!"

Twilight began panting and puffing, running short of breath after that speech. The courtroom was still silent, but Rarity and Discord were grinning. They soon started saying something…

"You killed Fluttershy so she could live again…" Rarity said. "Such an esoteric way of saying it..."

"Oh Twilight..." Discord said. "I'm more than sure that most ponies watching this trial have no idea what you mean by making other ponies live again. Furthermore, I have no intention of delivering "justice" unto you. There would be no point. Not only have you punished yourself quite enough, I am more than well aware of the real reason why you do not fear being punished…"

Green zeroes and ones began coursing through Twilight again. Rarity and Discord both noticed, already knowing what they were going to do...

"Bailiffs Myra and Edward, have you any idea as to where Noava Falling and Arc Rising, Twilight's dearly beloved children have run off to?" Rarity asked.

Confused, Myra Michaels/Maud Pie and Edward Miles looked around, and realized that Noava and Arc were no longer in the courtroom.

"What the hell?!" Edward shouted.

"I get it now…" Myra said. "This was your backup plan in case you got caught…"

"Bingo." Twilight responded, wearing an evil smile. "I can't return to the Mortal World and call myself God after being proven guilty as a murderer...but my children still have a duty to fulfill there, maintaining Starcatch..."

 _Maintaining ME..._

"How did they escape, though?" Edward asked. "I heard that you can make anything happen with the book you carry around, but I've not seen you use it once in this trial. Also, wouldn't you need Discord and Rarity's approval too?"

"The book I carry around is just an ordinary book," replied Twilight, "a copy I created. The real book is hidden somewhere safe, with everything I want to happen already written down and approved. I wanted to get caught with the replica, so that the others would only perceive my true intentions as something so innocent as being a tragic victim. What I wrote in the replica only became true because it was pre-emptively written to happen at that moment in the real book. Just like the escape of my children just now."

"And you guys…" Edward said as he turned to Rarity and Discord with a confused look on his face. "...were okay with all of this happening?"

"Of course," replied Rarity with a devilish grin, "The Risen One thought it was only fair to give Twilight a sporting chance of winning."

"In fact," chimed in Discord with an equally devilish smirk, "The Risen One actually wanted an ending to the story where Twilight wins. I wonder which one that could be...ha ha."

"Ha ha ha," laughed Twilight as well, "while I don't know everything that happens in your version of the story, I'm very confident that the ending where I win...will be this one. I've already sent out the demons and the robots to the Mortal World."

"We'll see about that…" Rarity replied. "We'll see if what they say is true that anything can be done digitally… For now, bon voyage."

Twilight was unphased as she suddenly vanished, still smiling in her confidence that she would ultimately win...

"You guys have to get back to the Mortal World straight away!" Fluttershy declared. "You can't just sit back here and do nothing!"

"No shit," said Rarity, "Sherlock Wright. What are you going to deduce next? That I'm going to teleport us to that plane?"

"Well actually," replied Fluttershy, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to sit back here and do nothing."

"WHAT?!" Twilight's friends shouted from the audience. "FLUTTERSHY!"

Fluttershy turned to them.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "but I can not rescue Twilight from the darkness, for I am in darkness myself. And thanks to this path I have chosen, I can not be brought out of it... Please, go rescue Twilight without me. You all still have a great role to play in this story..."

"THE FUCK?!" they yelled again. "NO! No, we...we…"

Fluttershy turned her face away from them and started to cry. Twilight's friends became crestfallen, realizing they couldn't force her. This Fluttershy was different than the one they knew...a lot had happened to her that they didn't know about...

Rarity soon created an interdimensional portal leading back to the Mortal World, and she, Discord, and Twilight's friends all entered it.

In the Mortal World, the moon was not out and there were no stars in the sky...

Noava Falling and Arc Rising had returned to the Mortal World, and were now residing on the twentieth floor of the technological tower, Starcatch. Our heroes would have to climb all the way up to the top floor to stop their evil scheme...if they didn't have the power to just warp there with Rarity and Discord's interdimensional powers and talk to them about their more or less morally questionable scheme. Warping up to the top floor wasn't the only thing Rarity and Discord did to save time though. They also explained to everyone what Noava and Arc's plan was…

"Noava and Arc are awaiting the final decision to be made in this ending of the story. Every pony in Equestria has already been infused with demonic and robotic powers. The full potential of those powers won't be unlocked though until they merge with the demons and robots that have come to this land. The two are having a little contest to see if more demons will merge with the ponies, or if more robots will merge with the ponies. Either it will be decided for Noava to win, or it will be decided for Arc to win. It's a win-win scenario, no pressure!"

"...Wow." Rainbow Dash remarked. "I can just FEEL how vital these two are to the plot…"

"Hold on," said Applejack, "if their schematics are morally dubious, why would we want them to win?"

"Because if they win," explained Rarity, "we all win! Victory makes everyone happy!"

"Yay!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "Everyone's a winner!"

 _Decision #13: Who succeeds?_

 _A. Noava Falling_

 _B. Arc Rising_

 _Noava Falling Succeeds_

On the top floor, Noava Falling was looking out a window, seeing that the demons from before had managed to merge with everyone in Equestria. Arc Rising was sitting on a chair by a large supercomputer, sighing as he read the words, "Mechanical fusion process has failed 100% completion." displayed on the screen.

"Please cancel the program or try again." the computer spoke in a voice suspiciously similar to Twilight Sparkle's.

"It looks like they chose me…" Noava told Arc with a smirk on her face. "Better luck next time, bro."

"Damn it." Arc said. "I curse to display frustration. But I shall not be sore in my loss. Congratulations, sister."

 _Arc Rising Succeeds_

On the highest floor, Arc Rising was sitting on a chair by the controls of a large supercomputer. The computer said something in a robotic voice suspiciously similar to Twilight Sparkle's…

"Mechanical fusion process is fully complete. All organic life has been fully upgraded."

Arc smiled as he made the appropriate input to finally activate Starcatch's _secondary_ function...the digitization of the Mortal World. He turned the chair around to face his sister who was standing around by a window on the other end of the room.

"Sorry Noava Falling," he told her, "the one chosen to reshape the world is me."

"Eh, good for you, you deserve it." Noava praised him nonchalantly.

The two then began wondering where Rarity and Discord were.

"What is the location of our superiors?" Arc asked.

"Beats me." Noava said. "They said they would be here to congratulate us, but you never know with those two…ever."

 _Ain't that the truth? Ho ho ho ho._

Discord spoke those words in his mind.

 _We only said we would be here and we only warped to the top floor. We didn't say where we would be here on the top floor…_

Rarity spoke those words in her mind.

Inside the supercomputer…

Discord, Rarity, and Twilight's friends found themselves face to face with Fluttershy's killer, Raven Denouve in the form of Twilight Sparkle...and the Dark Sky members.

"Oh, uh...hi." Dumb-bell greeted them.

"Yeah, um…" Hoops said. "It's a long story...you see, Twilight's actually our boss in case you didn't know...we just call her Boss…"

"..." Score tried to make the long story short silently.

"In essence," explained Ghost Rainbow Dash, "Twilight's actually the CPU of Starcatch, and the forms of both her and us anywhere outside here are just her and us in the form of digital data. We were really here the whole time."

"Wait," said Derpy, "are we overcomplicating things or oversimplifying things?"

Twilight and her friends gave the Dark Sky members odd looks.

"...Goodbye." Twilight/Boss said as she casted a spell that teleported the Dark Sky members outside of Starcatch.

"Now then…" Twilight/Raven said as she looked back at her friends with an evil smile on her face, and in response, Twilight's friends shot her serious looks.

"I knew you two would come to try and punish me after all…" Twilight said to Rarity and Discord before turning to the other three. "But can you three punish me even though I am your friend?"

"You may look like Twilight," said Applejack, "but you're nothing like her."

"You're as much as Twilight to us as this Rarity is Rarity to us." Rainbow Dash told Twilight like it was.

"You may have Twilight's body, mind, and soul…" Pinkie Pie said. "But you don't have her heart! No one with a heart as pure as hers would hurt a friend and then act like she was a hero for doing it!"

"Ah," replied Twilight, "but the thing is, I'm not a hero. I've never proclaimed to be one. You say that I don't have Twilight's heart...but I possess something more important than that...her will."

It was then that Twilight put her hooves together and shut her eyes. After a short while, she began to float in the air, exuding an aura unlike anything. Everyone, even Applejack and Rainbow felt it. They all could see a huge, purple aura surrounding Twilight's body. When Twilight finally opened her eyes, they glowed bright white.

"It is Twilight's will, the will of the God of Light, that tells me to make her friends and everyone in Equestria immortal so that may never have to die as she and everyone in Equestria did long ago…" Twilight spoke, her voice mixing with the voice of Raven. "It is my own that I have kept suppressed. While my methods were my own, I gave my all to fulfill her dream as my duty as the God of Darkness. I may not be able to recreate her friends and the world the way she would've wanted...but I have still made a revolutionary impact. It was in this tower that I recreated you, giving you your essential upgrades of demonic and mechanical fusion...and now I have done the same to the entire world with the aid of my children! I meant it when I said I murdered myself...I GAVE UP MY OWN WILL FOR TWILIGHT!"

Twilight's friends were shocked. They actually began to feel sorry not just for Twilight, but this man as well...

"I'll say it again…" Twilight said, her grin having contorted to an angry look as she glared at the three. "You have no right to judge me. Because you would have never done what I had done. I've always been the only man for the job...the only man who could do it..."

"!" Twilight's friends went as they realized something. They looked at each other...then they huddled around in a circle and began talking amongst each other, their words only being heard by them. Twilight looked upon the sight in confoundment, and then looked at Rarity and Discord, who unlike her, were still smiling.

"Why is it always smiles and laughs with you two?" Twilight asked. "I thought a scene like this would be one that even you would call completely serious."

"It's not that we think this scene is funny…" Rarity replied. "What we find funny...is your arrogance, and how it will be your undoing."

Twilight's friends stopped talking, having realized what they had to do. They joined hooves together and closed their eyes.

"Oh please," said Twilight, "arrogant...I'm as humble as they come. I humbled myself so low for the entire world. How is that arrogant?"

"You just don't get it…" Discord responded. "It's not the action that's arrogant, it's _you_. You actually believe that you're the only one who would humble yourself for the world. Having completely forgotten that you died to yourself alongside three others...and now you've given them the drive to take that next step that they would not have otherwise taken…you've helped them solve the riddle Rarity and I sent them..."

"What…" Twilight said as she turned around and saw what her friends had been doing while she was talking.

"The man in the dream...each one of us was him...but it's not that simple. We are all the man. We are all as one."

Twilight's friends spoke those words after they had begun to hover in the air just like Twilight.

"Twilight," said her friends, "you thought this was your cross to bear alone. But you were wrong. Your burden is our burden. When you suffer, we suffer as well. We know we can't always share the pain, but that's not what's most important. When Fluttershy died, we didn't die with her, but we are all still no different than anyone who bears the cross of death. It doesn't matter if we don't die together…what matters is that we live again together."

Twilight was stunned as she recognized those words.

"That's…" she said. "...exactly what I told myself before I killed Fluttershy. But you say I was wrong...how could I have been wrong for not dragging you guys into it?!"

"Because you did drag us into it." her friends replied. "You would've dragged us into it no matter what. Even if you had no choice but to do it, we all still suffered. And yet you refused to acknowledge us, lying to us and leading us astray...that is not what true friends do. True friends…"

Twilight's friends began to give off an even bigger and stronger aura than hers that surrounded their bodies entirely. It was not just the aura of their will, but also the aura of the will they had when they were humans, the will they had also kept suppressed. Twilight not only saw orange, blue, and pink energy in the aura, but a familiar purple energy as well.

"I...I…" Twilight stuttered in disbelief as she felt her own will in there. "You would accept my will as well?"

"...tell the truth to lead their friends down the right path." Twilight's friends finished their sentence. "Twilight, we'll forgive you for what you did. Fluttershy would want that. But first, you have to forgive yourself. Nothing you do can make up for what you did, but what you did can't stop anything great you can do from happening."

"But…" Twilight said as she looked down at her front hooves. "...what can I do? I'm not the real Twilight Sparkle. I gave up everything to be her...but I can't do anything great as her…I..."

"Please," replied Twilight's friends, "stop it with the "I". _We_ are all not the real ponies from Equestria. _We_ are all in this together. It doesn't matter if what the gods told us when we signed up for this was made up. What does matter is that it's given us something that's real. Don't you see? So much that's happened to us as Twilight Sparkle and her friends has been awful...but it's given us this opportunity to be closer to each other than ever before. And that's something that couldn't make us any happier."

Twilight fell silent. After a short while, tears of joy began to swell up in her eyes.

"I was fully expecting you guys to hate me for what I did…" she told them as she tried to fight back the tears. "I wasn't prepared for this...I don't deserve your love...for someone as arrogant as I...there could be no greater punishment!"

Twilight floated over to her friends and hugged them while she cried. Even Rarity and Discord, who were watching the whole thing, began to tear up just a bit.

"Can you believe our stories used to be almost all about humor?" a sniffling Rarity asked.

"Yes." a sniffling Discord replied. "We were young back then. We were young. We know better now that not everything has to be funny. Jokes have to come naturally. Comedy is meant to build more than just humor. It is also meant to build hearts."

After that, Rarity, Discord, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, left the supercomputer through another interdimensional portal and ended up in the room where Noava and Arc were. Not to their surprise, they found Twilight there as well, in the form of a digital data copy.

"Mama's told us that she's got a brand new bag…" Noava said.

"A bag that all of us will be able to fit into," said Arc, "if my calculations are correct."

"Even though this form of me is just data…" Twilight told her friends. "I still carry my aura...and I wish for us to use it to bring a light to this world that will last forever…"

Thanks to the efforts of Twilight and her children, death was feared by none ever again. And thanks to the efforts of Twilight and her friends, the Mortal World was given an eternal connection to all those who had died. They embedded their aura of pure will into the dark night sky, and so the moon came out and stars in the sky began to shine. The aura that carried the will of Twilight and her friends would now manifest around the moon and stars, bringing them awake to shine the light of their spirits unto all who walked the land…

 _This is not the ending where Twilight Sparkle wins...no, this is just an ending where everyone wins...the kind of ending Twilight would have wanted..._

End of Twilight Sparkle's Ending.


	26. Rarity and Discord's Ending

Everyone had left the courtroom. Even Bailiffs Myra Michaels/Maud Pie and Edward Miles were no longer there, having not come back after taking Rarity and Discord away for some reason…

Fluttershy was still in the courtroom, kneeling her head at the bench with her hooves in her hair. She still couldn't believe she had fallen for that trick. The real killer was going to get away with everything now…

Fluttershy cried. Her tears dripped down from her eyes onto the bench.

"I failed…" she said to herself. "I can't bring about justice...I don't deserve to be in this courtroom…"

 _Come on Fluttershy, you're being too hard on yourself._

Fluttershy could hear those words being spoken by Fantasy God Discord in her mind.

 _I must concur. Anybody could have made a mistake like that. Besides, you don't even get this down on the other two endings where you don't win the trial._

Fluttershy could hear those words in her mind being spoken by Ninja Time God Rarity.

"But this is different…" Fluttershy replied to them. "I tried this time...I really did try. And it's not like I threw the trial for the sake of saving a friend...how am I saving you guys by getting you convicted? You were just doing your jobs by writing the story as you were directed to write it...and now you're in jail just for that…"

 _Gee Fluttershy, when you say it like that, you make it sound very obvious who the real killer is._

Discord spoke those words.

 _Also, we're already out of jail now. I used my time powers to go to the time plane where we would be set free. Right now, we're actually in the Mortal World. Twilight Sparkle and her friends are here too. We teleported them back here with the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna to resolve some unfinished business._

Rarity spoke those words, and in response, Fluttershy lifted her head up from her desk in shock.

"Woah!" she exclaimed. "By that, you don't mean-"

 _Ha ha, chill out. There's no fire. Twilight and her friends aren't fighting with Prince Luna or anything. Thanks to us, peace talks have been made. Luna has agreed to never kill another pony before their time has come again._

Discord said that.

"Oh…" Fluttershy said in response. "Then what did you mean by "unfinished business"?"

 _By that, we just meant that all of them went to Princess Celestia's castle together to report back to her. After all, they were on a mission before all this stuff in our world, the Immortal World, happened._

"Oh," replied Fluttershy, "so are you going to come back now?"

 _Nope, not yet. Rarity and I have our own unfinished business to take care of in this world. This wasn't called Rarity and Discord's ending for no reason, heh heh._

After Discord spoke those words, the scene shifted to him and Rarity strolling through the Mortal World and seeing the result of all the chaos that had gone on in it. All of the ponies in Equestria had been merged with either demons or robots. Fire and products of the machine filled the land now. It was as if hell and robot heaven got mixed together. But Rarity and Discord looked upon this sight with glee.

"A much more beautiful scene than last time, wouldn't you agree?" Rarity said to her partner. "I'm glad we gave Twilight Sparkle liberties with this part. She really outdid herself."

"Far less blood was shed this time…" Discord responded. "I love it. These ponies are immortal now, living again not through death, but through becoming one with beings of the eternal. Fantastic…"

By last time, Rarity and Discord meant the last time they made a world immortal. That time, they had hired Myra Michaels to help them…

When the two gods had finished admiring the scenery, they took a glance at Princess Celestia's castle, which was in the distance.

"Now then…" Rarity said. "I think it's time we joined the heroes in their game of Who Went Where…"

Discord snapped his fingers to make his and Rarity's book appear in his hands, along with a pen.

"I'll admit that I'm out of practice," replied Discord as he opened the book and held the pen in his right hand, "but I'm sure I'll remember the rules along the way. After all, I'm the one writing them. Mwa ha ha..."

Inside Princess Celestia's castle…

A bizarre scene was unfolding inside the royal castle of the sun princess. Twilight Sparkle was the star of it, and Celestia, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna, were all bearing witness to it. Celestia was sitting on her throne, horrified by what she was seeing. Twilight Sparkle had just confessed to being not only the one behind the appearance of all the demons and robots in the land, but also to scheming to become the ruler of Equestria. Twilight's friends were there watching what was going on too, and they were at a loss for words. They knew that she had been working for Rarity and Discord, and that she had been hiding things from them, but this still came to them as a surprise with just how much she had hidden from them. As for Prince Luna, she looked surprised, but the others picked up a feeling that she may have known about all this…

"All that being said," said Twilight as she stood by a window and grinned at everyone in the room, "I'm sure you all know how sorry I am for this long-running charade of lies. My most contemptible one being the sham with the book. My power to make things happen in the story of this world is real, however. The book you caught me with and saw me use in front of you that time was just a replica, a fake, but the reason the stuff I wrote in it that time still happened…"

A glow of purple-pink magic was emanated around Twilight's horn as she did a spell to make a black book with a white star on it appear along with an ink-dipped quill, both floating in the air surrounded by the aura of Twilight's levitation magic.

"...is because it was pre-emptively written to happen in the real book right here." Twilight finished her sentence. "It is now time for me to do something I did not wish to write ahead of time...because this is something I wanted to do for real personally…"

Twilight said those words while looking at Prince Luna with a menacing smirk on her face. She opened up her book and came closer to her. She was about to put the quill up to a page of the book and write something when all of a sudden…

 _Question #7: Did Twilight Sparkle drink Pinkie Pie's coffee cake?_

 _A. Yes_

 _B. No_

 _Yes_

Twilight Sparkle felt an unpleasant sensation inside her stomach. Abruptly, she felt a very fluid form of cake frosting mixed with throw-up rise up to her throat and into her mouth. This combined with the shock from the sudden feeling of illness caused her to drop the book and quill and get down on the floor on bended knee, hurling up bile combined with coffee and cake frosting on the floor.

"What...the fuck?!" Twilight said in her mind. "Why am I...vomiting that up NOW?!"

Twilight was about to get the answer to that question as she saw the front hoof of Maud Pie get stamped on the book before her eyes. Glancing up, she looked at Maud in the face.

 _No_

*SHING*

A familiar saber was plunged into Twilight Sparkle's back and went through her stomach. Twilight dropped the book and quill and bent down on the ground in pain...spiritual pain. She knew that this sword wasn't any ordinary sword. This was the sword of…

Maud Pie stepped on the book she had dropped with a front hoof. Dumbstruck, Twilight looked down at the edge of the blade and saw the initials, "M.M." engraved on it. She then saw the blade being pulled out of her, as Maud used her free hoof to grab the sword by the glowing-cross hilt and put it away in the sheath on her back. She then looked up at Maud's face...

"Myra Michaels…?" Twilight said, calling her that for the first time. "Why…"

"Sorry Twilight…" Maud/Myra apologized in an honestly sympathetic, yet dull tone. "But Rarity and Discord don't want you to win the way you want to win in this ending. Thus, I was assigned to make sure you win the way they want you to win."

"How's that…?" Twilight asked nervously in confusion.

"Rarity and Discord wanted this ending to involve us all living happily ever after by finding peace with our inner selves and making a commitment to become better people." Maud replied. "The way they want that to happen is for us to go to another world...again. But this time, it won't be the Immortal World. This time, we're going to my world…"

"And my world…" Edward Miles said with a smile as he stepped out from behind Prince Luna's shadow.

"W-were you behind me that whole time?!" Luna asked in surprise as she noticed Edward step out from behind her.

"Hey," replied Edward, "who said the shadow of the princess of the night wasn't a good place to hide?"

"Princess of the night…" Luna said. "Though I do still feel sentiment for that title, I go by the prince of death, now."

"No offense," responded Edward, "but that title makes you sound like the devil. Myra and I have an offer to make to you. If you accept it, we can help you become an angel."

"..." Luna went silent as she became curious of what he meant. Soon, she said, "Do tell…"

"The world Myra and I come from is the human world," explained Edward, "a world of much death that was once a world of much war too. Thanks to Myra's powers she inherited from becoming the God of War, conflict between nations has become far less fierce. However, the death toll is still intolerably high, with civilians everywhere dying from disease. We could really use someone like you, a controller and maintainer of death, to stabilize the death rate by only allowing those whose times have come to pass on."

"You…" Luna replied. "You would mean to say that I am...needed in another world? I have...another purpose? I would love to accept your offer, but...I thought that even Rarity and Discord wanted..."

"What Rarity and Discord wanted..." Myra intervened. "...was for you to fulfill the true destiny The Risen One had planned for you. And that was to be a light to our people…"

Luna felt tears of joy trickle down from her eyes and onto her cheeks.

"Then yes…" she said happily. "I will come to your world and do whatever I can for your people…"

Twilight on the other hand, still crouched on the floor, cried some tears of sadness.

"No…" she said sadly as she stomped the floor with her right front hoof. "No...this isn't fair...it was my duty...to make the Goddess of Death...a light to the ponies of our world…"

"Don't mull it over like you got screwed over." Myra told her as she looked down at her. "The Risen One did this so that you too could fulfill a great destiny…"

"You…" Twilight responded as she felt a familiar purple aura glow around her. "You don't mean…"

Myra then looked over at Twilight's friends, each one of them looking at themselves and seeing a familiar aura glow around them as well.

"Same for you guys…" she said. "You all have a calling to do something outside of this world. You all served your purpose in this world as Twilight Sparkle and her friends. The mission to bring eternal salvation to this world has been accomplished...it is time to bring that same salvation to another…"

Myra then turned to Princess Celestia.

"As for you," said Myra, "please have those four that you saw outside after you came back here from the incident with appearing out of Applejack's hat summoned here. They were Prince Luna's four souls, the ones who must be the light that bridges the gap between the living and the dead in her stead."

"Hmm?" Celestia hummed in confusion. "Why not ask my sister to call them back to her?"

Myra smiled at her.

"Because you are the ruler of this land," answered Myra, "the one who summons those who live and walk on it to your chambers. The Risen One knows that leading the ponies of this world is what you love to do. It's YOUR destiny."

Myra winked at her.

"Oh..." Celestia replied, also smiling now as she got what she was trying to do. "Very well then, I'll play my part…"

And so, Celestia had Octavia Melody, Vinyl Scratch, Tree Hugger, and Ken Tucke, still in the forms of Gummy, Big McIntosh, Apple Bloom, and Spike respectively, brought to her royal chambers. While she had sent out her guards to find them, Myra Michaels had had an important conversation with Twilight Sparkle and her friends...

"You called?" Gummy asked Celestia in Octavia's voice. "Do you want a show?"

"If it's a musical show she wants," said Big Mac in Vinyl's voice, "then I can bust some ghostly beats out for everyone!"

"Music is good for the soul…" Apple Bloom said in Tree's voice. "It causes our spirits to vibrate, thus giving us spiritual exercise."

"BUT MUSIC CAN ONLY TOUCH THE SOUL!" Spike exclaimed in Ken's voice. "IT CAN'T GIVE TO YOU WHAT KEN TUCKE CAN!"

"While I admire your passionate...hearts," said Celestia, "I did not request for you to come here to hear you play music. I summoned you because someone you know here has something to tell you…"

"More like show," said Myra, "actually. Twilight...it's showtime."

Twilight and her friends then joined together in a circle. Closing their eyes and holding hooves together, an aura of purple, orange, pink, and blue colors began to surround them as they began floating up into the air. Prince Luna's four souls were marveled by the sight.

"Woah…" they all went. "This feeling...this isn't just a light show…that aura...it's..."

"We may not be THE Twilight Sparkle and friends…" Twilight and her friends said. "But inside each of us, we carry their wills. We gave up ourselves, our identities, to become them. Our calling in THIS world, our greater reason for being here, was to keep their wills alive. They live in us, just as your four live inside Gummy, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Spike. Your reason for being called here is because we've finished playing our parts as Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash...it's time for the torch to be passed on…"

"No way…" the four souls replied. "You want us to be…"

"Please…" Twilight and her friends. "...become the new Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. We ask you not to do this for us. We want you to do it for you. You guys are not truly alive right now, so long as you are lingering in the bodies of others for yourselves and pretending that you're not dead, you have no life. If you guys want to live again...you have to be willing to die to yourselves. Try letting another linger inside of you...let them give you life...and then you might understand."

The four souls began to think all of this over as they let it sink in. They started to wonder...had they been...selfish in taking over the bodies of the ponies they had possessed, denying them a chance to live for their own sake? They all felt that they had the right to live...but was this the way to live?

"I feel like I've been…" Octavia/Gummy said. "...cold."

"I feel like I've gotten a big head…" Vinyl/Big Mac said.

"I feel like I've become a product of the machine…" Tree/Apple Bloom said.

"...And I…" Ken/Spike said, not shouting for once, and beginning to cry. "...I want to report real love to someone this evening…*sniff* *sob*"

The four souls knelt their heads. They realized it was time…

"We'll do it…" they told Twilight and her friends. "And we won't just do it for us...we'll do it for you guys and the ones who abide within you as well...we're ready to become selfless…"

In response, the aura surrounding Twilight and her friends left their bodies and wrapped itself around Prince Luna's four souls instead. It carried them up into the air, all of their eyes becoming bright-white and all of their mouths opening up to let out the ghosts of Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, Tree Hugger, and Ken Tucke. The aura then carried over to the ghosts, and they traveled down towards Twilight and her friends. Octavia's spirit entered Twilight's body, Vinyl's spirit entered Pinkie's body, Tree's spirit entered Applejack's body, and Ken's spirit entered Rainbow's body. With that, the same thing that happened to the four souls happened to Twilight and her friends. Their eyes also became bright-white and their mouths were opened to release their spirits. It was then that Edward Miles held out his right front leg and created a large, white, swirling portal. He got a grin on his face as he watched Myra Michaels, Prince Luna, and the spirits of Twilight and friends all go towards it and enter it.

"Yeah…" he said. "Life's over now...so let's go all the way to the next world!"

After saying that, he too went into the portal, and it closed behind him. Now that he and all the others had left, only Princess Celestia, Luna's four souls, and the ones the four souls had possessed remained in the royal palace. Celestia looked upon Gummy, Apple Bloom, Big McIntosh, and Spike, all lying on the floor unconscious, with concern.

"Guards," she called to her soldiers, "please take these four victims home before they regain consciousness. I feel it's for the best they see and know as little about this as possible."

The guards obeyed their command and took the four possession victims out. After they did so, a blinding flash of light began to fill the palace, and the four souls completed their fusion with Twilight and her friends. The aura holding them up in the air brought them back down to the ground, and the four looked at themselves, admiring their new forms. This was a far different experience than simply possessing one's body...they felt like they had actually become polymerized with the minds and personalities of Twilight and her friends.

"I never thought I'd ever be an alligator and then an alicorn…" Octavia said, talking in Twilight's voice. "How quaint…"

"Yay!" Vinyl Scratch exclaimed in Pinkie's voice. "I don't have to be carried around in Pinkie's pocket anymore! That was such an interference to my work! The sounds I would make in there were all warped, too much interference! This calls for a wub party!"

"Yee-haw!" Tree Hugger cried in Applejack's voice. "I can communicate with apple trees on a whole new level now! I'm gonna turn barrels of soft apple cider into barrels of spirits!"

"This just in!" Ken Tucke exclaimed in Rainbow Dash's voice. "Local resident Applejack, apple farmer-turned hippy, is responsible for getting the masses drunk! It's not even time for our weather report, and I can already say that a dark cloud has hung over the Apple family's farm all day! That must be a headache! Tune in after commercial break for another _awesomely_ exciting broadcast this evening!"

Celestia looked upon the four laughing and talking with each other, glad they had chosen this path. Though Celestia was happy for them, she couldn't help but feel...strange.

"This has to be as weird as it gets…" she told herself in her mind.

 _I'm afraid not…_

Rarity spoke those words.

 _There's still one more surprise in store. Entering from stage left, feast your eyes on this!_

Suddenly, a dark, swirling portal opened up on the left side of the room. Out from it jumped not the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna, but Princess Luna. Everypony turned to her in surprise.

"I have arrived…" Luna said, looking at Celestia. "...Jason."

"Woah…" Celestia replied in a stoner dude voice. "Who are you, man?"

Luna then looked at the four souls.

"You four…" she said. "There's still one more thing that has to be done…now that you are Twilight Sparkle and her friends, it's your job to give the light that was bestowed upon you...to the dark sky..."

On that night, the four souls sent the aura that had surrounded them, which represented the wills of Twilight Sparkle and her friends up to the sky. Princess Luna had only brought out a moon without glow and a starless sky that eve, but when the aura reached the night sky, the moon began to shine, and all of the stars in the sky became brighter than ever. Light came down from the stars and onto all of Equestria's citizens, and each of them felt the essence of Twilight and her friends...each of them felt a connection with ones whose times had long since passed…

Four new souls had been blessed with the light of the world...a light given to them by four young men from another...four young men who had been called Daniel Sofhard, who had been Applejack, Joseph Baker, who had been Pinkie Pie, Leon Hayst, who had been Rainbow Dash, and Raven Denouve, who had been Twilight Sparkle...

 _Four young men who were guided by a ninja…_

Rarity spoke this.

 _A swordswoman formerly of the dark…_

Discord spoke this.

 _And some crazy, crazy gods…_

Rarity and Discord spoke this together.

End of Rarity and Discord's Ending.


	27. The Risen One's Ending

Fluttershy had revealed the truth…

The entire court had no idea what to say. Even Rarity and Discord were at a loss for words. Eventually though, they had to overcome their surprise, and Judge Discord had to hand down a verdict. He banged his gavel and said...

"For the crime of the murder of Fluttershy, this court finds Defense Attorney Fluttershy…"

 _GUILTY_

Lots of ponies who were watching the trial cheered and confetti was thrown. Soon, Discord banged his gavel again.

"Court is adjourned!" he exclaimed.

The trial was truly over. The real killer had been found. Bailiffs Myra Michaels/Maud Pie and Edward Miles arrested Defense Attorney Fluttershy, but before she was taken away, Fluttershy had requested that she get a chance to speak with her friends. Wanting to be nice, as well as knowing that this request was coming straight from The Risen One, Myra and Edward granted her wish. Having cuffed her front legs, they took her outside of the courtroom, where Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were all waiting. The latter three had been in the audience watching the trial, and all of them were smiling at Fluttershy with tears swelling in their eyes. Fluttershy smiled back at them.

"Judging just by your tears of joy," said Fluttershy, "I believe that you realize this is a good thing. For this is the will of I, The Risen One."

In response to that, Twilight and her friends just laughed before saying…

"WRONG. Even in this twisted realm of reality, we absolutely refuse to believe that is a good thing. Though we may hardly understand what the fuck is going on, we completely understand that this story or whatever ending with our friend being taken away in cuffs after being proved guilty as a murderer is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING. If you think it's going to end like this, you couldn't possibly be more wrong…"

"Ha ha ha ha ha…" Fluttershy laughed too. "I was just testing you. I don't believe it's going to end like this at all, because I directed Rarity and Discord to write this ending so that it won't end here. The me you are seeing right before your eyes, as you may have already guessed, is merely a mortal incarnation of me. My real self, as hinted by the solution to the riddle...is in Hawaii. If you wish for this story to end the proper way, you know where you will have to go."

"We would go to hell and back to the dimension between hell and heaven if it meant getting the chance to meet the real you…" Twilight's friends told Fluttershy in the most sincere tone they could tell her in. "If boredom's been killing you on your vacation, you're in luck. You're completely out of your mind Fluttershy. You've been in space for too long, and we're going to bring you back down to earth!"

"Then we're ready for launch…" Fluttershy replied. "This conversation is over. Take me away please, bailiffs…"

Twilight and her friends stared at Fluttershy angrily as Bailiffs Myra and Edward dragged her off and left the courtroom lobby. They had no idea how to feel right now. Happy to finally know the truth, sad to know that their friend was in a darkness so deep, or furious that their friend had played them for suckers without shame. They had talked a big game, but they really didn't know what they wanted to do deep down besides save their friend…

...but how?

 _We can take you to Hawaii for starters._

Twilight and her friends could hear Discord speak those words in all their minds.

"What the…?" Twilight and her friends said in surprise.

 _Tickets are on me. No need to say thanks. I run the airline of the interdimensional plane, it's really no trouble._

Twilight and her friends heard Rarity speak that in their minds. They turned around to the entrance of the trial room and saw Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord open up the entrance's double doors and step out, dressed in their normal attires of a black sword-emblem decorated robe and a white shield-emblem decorated robe respectively.

"Glad to be out of that frumpy and frilly outfit," said a pleased Rarity as she admired her black robe, "although I won't deny that I do enjoy how it made me feel like a handsome gentleman."

"You say that like you aren't already a handsome gentleman." Discord complimented her as he scratched her chin slightly with his claw.

"Why…" Twilight and her friends began to ask. "Why would you guys help us go to Hawaii?"

"So you can face off against Fluttershy for the final battle, of course." Rarity replied, grinning as usual.

"But…" Twilight and her friends said. "Fluttershy is The Risen One! Your director, your leader! Have you...meant to betray her this whole time?"

"Betray?!" Discord bellowed. "You mean to call Rarity and I TRAITORS?! I am appalled! We wouldn't betray Fluttershy if it meant an entire existence without chocolate milk! We're not going to help you because we're against Fluttershy, we're going to help you because we're FOR Fluttershy. Come on, don't you even remember what Fluttershy just said?"

The gears began to turn in the heads of Twilight and her friends.

"So that's why you didn't want Fluttershy to be arrested…" Twilight said. "It wasn't because she wanted to go to jail in one of the endings and pay for her crime in the slammer...it was because she wanted us to go to Hawaii and be the ones to punish her!"

"Bingo," responded Rarity, "you are a winner. For the record, we've not written the exact way you punish Fluttershy in our storybook...Fluttershy wants you to do to her what you feel is an appropriate punishment."

Twilight's friends were now in that state of utter disbelief. Their eyes were starting to water as they got down on the floor and began to cry.

"We don't get this…" they said. "She killed herself...so we could PUNISH HER?!"

"We know it sounds completely stupid to you all right now in your mortal minds…" Discord told them. "But when you become gods, you all shall understand perfectly."

With that, Discord winked at Twilight...

"...!" Twilight went.

 _This is my cue…_

It wasn't Rarity or Discord who spoke those words...it was Twilight Sparkle in her mind.

Twilight Sparkle, the only pony of the four who was not shocked or weeping, stepped closer to Rarity and Discord.

"Oh really?" she said. "Because I'm actually two gods. And even I don't understand this entirely."

Twilight friends, intrigued, looked up at her.

"What does that mean, Twilight…?" they asked with suspicious glares.

Twilight glanced back at them…

"It means that I am the God of both Darkness and Light," replied Twilight, "I am what I am. And I am not what you see before you...this me is merely what you would call a hologram."

Twilight's friends didn't even shout or act surprised. They just said…

"...Really?"

"...Yeah." Twilight replied. "I've become one with Starcatch. I literally am a supercomputer. This me is just a physical manifestation of digital data I made of myself, akin to the mortal incarnations Fluttershy makes of herself. Hey, don't look at me, Fluttershy directed it and wanted Rarity and Discord to write it."

"..." Twilight's friends went.

"Oh yeah," said Twilight, "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you all that I've been working for Fluttershy this whole time and that what she said in court was true, I was the one she hired to kill her. Throughout this entire story, I was written to act and feel as a mortal who knew nothing about the scheme with the exception of certain scenes."

"..." Twilight's friends went again.

"Gah," grunted Twilight, "that's right, plotholes. I need to fill you guys in by filling those in. The book you caught me with was a fake copy that I made and the stuff I wrote it in only happened because it was written to happen in the real book ahead of time, the temp writer thing was just an act to hide my godly identity, digital data copies are entirely solid and can do anything the real version can, and this version of me legitimately is insane."

"..." Twilight's friends could do this all day.

Twilight Sparkle eventually just sighed.

"I'm sorry my friends…" she apologized. "But I must take my leave now. It is time for me to play my part in The Risen One's plan…and become a perfect being without error..."

With that, Twilight's body became a glowing, green mass of zeroes and ones, and she disappeared without a trace. Twilight's friends...couldn't even be shocked. They were at a point now where they could hardly be surprised anymore. They still continued to shed tears, however, and Rarity and Discord looked upon them not with smiles, but with looks of genuine sympathy…

"We know that it's tough…" Rarity said. "We expect no mortal to always believe that everything appearing to be bad, illogical, or both to them is part of a greater scheme for good."

"..." Twilight's friends were still silent, but they felt Rarity's words ring true to them.

"We honestly have always liked you guys…" Discord told them. "That's why we were glad when The Risen One told us to write for you to have a hard life. We were glad to be able to prune you and raise you like masters raise their students. This life is not everything. It's just one adventure. A warm-up adventure to prepare you for the real journey. And you've handled this warm-up adventure exceptionally well. We feel that you're finally ready for that real journey...don't you think so too?"

"..." Twilight's friends went again...only this time…

Applejack got up.

"Of course." she said. "I've always known that confusion and doubt weren't nothing more than training weights, an exercise before the real match..."

Rainbow Dash got up too.

"So do I!" she exclaimed. "This is only the beginning of the real show!"

Finally, Pinkie Pie stood up.

"We may be friends with Fluttershy and Twilight…" she said. "...but that's not all we are! We each have our own story too! It just so happens though...that each of us want Fluttershy and Twilight to be the focus of our story right now. They need us, and we need them. We live for our friends!"

After all that was said, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, were each surrounded by a ball of white light. Each ball swam around them before entering their bodies, and the three ponies each felt a strange new power surge within them. A blinding flash of light filled the room, and when it faded, the three ponies looked at themselves, noticing that they had all changed in appearance. Applejack was now dressed in gold armor and carried a shield that was shaped like a star and had the emblem of an eye on it. Rainbow Dash was now dressed like a merchant, wearing a green vest that said "PEACE COMES" on it, had many weapons under the vest that were wrapped in the kind of paper treaties were written on, and bore the scent of many expensive scented candles. Pinkie Pie was now dressed like a magician, wearing a red hat and blue cape, and carried a green cauldron filled with bottles and beakers in her hooves.

 _Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie have become gods!_

Applejack had become the God of Magic, Rainbow Dash had become the God of Peace, and Pinkie Pie had become the God of Science. Still looking at themselves, they knew that they had not just changed in appearance, they had also changed mentally and spiritually. Each of them had been imbued with new knowledge of their newfound abilities and better understanding of battle, as well as new strength that they felt welling inside.

"Woah…" Applejack said, gazing at her shining armor. "I'm a mage soldier! I guess I'll be givin' a new meaning to them words, "magic duel"."

"I gotta say…" Rainbow Dash remarked as she smelled herself, noticing the new scent around her. "I never thought I'd be smelling like big business and a hippy at the same time…"

"I'll cook up a solution with the knowledge I've accrued!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she admired her cauldron, thinking of all the solutions she could make. "And I mean that literally!"

"But wait…" the trio of gods went as they all wondered about something that didn't seem to fit and turned to Rarity and Discord, who were both smiling happily once again.

"We thought that we had to solve the mystery of Fluttershy's death to become gods."

"And you did…" Discord replied.

"Huh?" the god trio went.

"Don't you get it?" Rarity said. "We didn't mean solving the mystery of Fluttershy's death in the context of finding out who killed her. We meant in the context of solving the mystery of what Fluttershy's death had done to you guys."

"We...we still don't get it…" the three replied. "Wait...wait, oh…"

"Yes," said Discord, "your confusion...your doubt...this entire story that started with the death of your friend implanted those dreaded feelings into your hearts. It fueled your inner conflict with identity struggle and made you believe that the only escape from the confusion and doubt you were being put through was solving the mystery of what was going on."

"Yeah…" the three responded. "We didn't solve the mystery...but we don't feel confused anymore at all…"

"That's because you realize that there was no mystery…" Rarity explained. "Life is simply this way. It's a puzzle with no answer...but your own..."

"The reason The Risen One died isn't the answer…" Discord followed up.

"It's how we react to the reason that's the answer…" the three finished it. "The Risen One's tale is a really dark and fucked up one once you really know about it, but if knowing it inspires us to be a light unto others, then what a great tale of our own we can make…"

Rarity and Discord actually cried a few tears of joy.

"You couldn't have said it better…" Rarity said. "Discord and I did not write that…we're too dark and fucked up for that."

"Those words came from you…" Discord said. "Your hearts spoke them true..."

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie cried a few tears of joy too.

"It's time now…" Rarity said as she pulled a scroll out of her black robe.

"Let us go…" Discord said he pulled a pen out of his white robe.

Rarity and Discord put the pen and scroll together and began to make a chant. Once their chant had finished, they and the three new gods were in a lodge in Hawaii.

…

An unusually familiar lodge in Hawaii…

"Don't tell me…" Applejack said as she, Dash, and Pinkie looked around. They saw that they were in the same living room with the same couch, carpet, and TV as before. This time, however, there was no Sombra lounging on the couch. Or Luna carrying pancakes for that matter. There was a Luna dressed in a blue Hawaiian shirt though, and she opened a glass door behind a table in the dining room. Stepping into the dining room while carrying a tray of toy umbrella decorated cocktails, she saw the five gods in the living room and said…

"Aloha, my friends. Glad to see you've all arrived. Fluttershy wants you. She's outside on the porch, waiting."

Luna then walked back outside as the five conversed. On the porch, she sighed and said…

"What am I doing with my life? The Mortal World wants me no longer...I've served up my part in this story...why am I still here?"

"Huh." Rainbow huffed. "So she doesn't want the house to get messed up. I should've figured."

"Well yeah," replied Pinkie, "it's a duel, not a party. Now if it's a party duel, _then_ I'd understand Fluttershy wanting us to get REAL crazy."

"Pinkie," said Applejack, "this whole thing has gotten REAL crazy."

Pinkie sighed in response to that.

"I need to take you to see a party duel some time…" she told Applejack. "Compared to that, this is just some REAL dope."

Applejack and Rainbow just stared at Pinkie confusedly for a bit. Pinkie eventually began to laugh, and Applejack and Rainbow soon couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Ha ha ha…" Rarity chuckled, seeing the others laugh. "I'm impressed that you three are in the mood for comic relief at a time like this. It really shows how much you've changed."

"Hmm?" the trio of Twilight's friends responded. "How so? We know we've changed, but that time, we were just laughing together like always."

"True, but there was once a time where you would be in a constant state of despair and unrest knowing that you would have to fight and hurt one of your friends." Discord explained. "But now…"

"You've learned that getting upset, even over something serious like that, won't change anything." Rarity concluded. "You know now that being happy and laidback at a time like this doesn't mean you think the issue is funny...it just means you're trying to be strong."

"And we need strength if we're going to bring Fluttershy back to us…" Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie replied. "Thanks guys...now we're even more motivated…"

The three knew that it was time to duel...so they walked up to the glass door leading outside to the porch where Fluttershy awaited them and opened it…

Stepping outside, they found themselves on a beach. Predictably, when they looked around, they saw no beachcomers. The place was deserted, with no pony in sight save one...Fluttershy. She was lounging on a beach chair close to the ocean, wearing black sunglasses and a red Hawaiian shirt and swirling around a glass filled with ice and red cocktail juice. Noticing the arrival of her friends, she greeted them…

"Hello. It was very nice of you guys to come. Would any of you like a drink?"

Applejack and Dash both shot her a serious stare. Pinkie, on the other hand, smiled and shut her eyes while saying…

"Oh certainly! Thank you! I'd like a Pina Papaya Colada with a Mountain Dew Baja Blast twist please!"

After saying that, her look of glee turned to a serious one…

"AFTER we've brought you back to your SENSES…"

Fluttershy began to laugh sinisterly.

"So you've decided to punish me as well…" she said. "How lovely…"

Fluttershy began to drink from her glass.

"We don't care about punishing you…" the trio of friends said. "We only care about doing what we have to do to bring you back…"

Fluttershy finished drinking and looked at her friends with a smirk on her face.

"I expected nothing less…" she said. "You guys are so good to me…"

"You got that right…" the trio replied, playing along as each of them readied for battle.

Fluttershy then tossed her glass of red cocktail juice into the air as she opened her wings. The glass of juice spun around, showering her wings with red liquid, and soon they grew bright red with magical energy emanating from them. While the glass was still spinning in the air, Fluttershy shot a spark of magical fire at it from out of her right hooftip. The spark grew when it hit the glass, enveloping it and transforming it into a red gun with white stripes and the words, "He Lives Forever", engraved on it. The gun spun down towards Fluttershy, and grabbing it in her right hoof, she pointed it at her friends and exclaimed…

"Let's rock! Woo-hoo."

 _THE FINAL BATTLE BEGINS_

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all rushed towards Fluttershy and threw a punch at her, but Fluttershy leaped into the air and began to fire her gun at them. A rain of bullets made of magic fire began to shower the three. They all got hit and burned by the bullets with them even piercing Applejack's armor. Even though they all had far more endurance now as gods, they still felt pain from the bullet rain. Landing a good distance from the three after her dramatic jump, Fluttershy looked back at them and taunted them as they groaned and clutched the areas of their wounds…

"I don't mean to be rude, but what were you thinking? Trying to fight a man with a gun with your fists is very dangerous! You need to be careful!"

The trio looked at Fluttershy with looks showing great frustration. They obviously didn't want to fight her at full force, but if she herself wouldn't think twice about hurting them…

"Don't worry," said Fluttershy in a sickly sweet tone, "I understand your pain, so I'll make it very easy for you…"

Fluttershy then turned her gun to face the horizon of the ocean and fired three shots. Each of the three bullets only traveled above the sea for a few moments before changing direction and zooming towards Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie like homing missiles. Each bullet struck each one of them in the forehead, and each one of them felt a small explosion of fire spread throughout their heads. Yet they didn't die. Even with getting over their constant feelings of shock, they were surprised at the extent of Fluttershy's power...and the extent of their endurance…

"My gun is the last of the three legendary weapons…" Fluttershy explained. "Oh, you've never heard of them? Well you've seen at least one of them, two if you were lucky. Myra Michaels' saber is the Victor from the Dark Domain, and Loki, the priest who mentored her, has the staff called the Saints to Reign. This gun, called He Lives Forever, once belonged to a man named Nick Ron, CEO of the Phoenext Corporation, before it was brought to me. Every shot it fires never misses, making its wielder virtually undefeatable in a gunfight. They say he who wields it, lives forever...figuratively, of course. But you guys and I can live forever literally with our godly powers…eternally lingering in this realm of Hawaii..."

The three stared at Fluttershy blankly, lowering their heads as they realized what they had to do…

"You guys are smart." Fluttershy complimented them in her sickly sweet tone. "You've caught my drift already. Fight like you mean it, or this will go on for eternity."

The three readied their weapons. Rainbow Dash pulled a weapon of paper out from her vest and it turned into a pair of glowing, green, three-pronged nunchaks. The beakers in Pinkie's cauldron magically filled themselves with bubbling liquids of assorted colors, and a ball of energy began to glow on the eye on Applejack's shield. This time, the three didn't all rush at Fluttershy at once. Instead, only Rainbow charged forth at her, and spinning her nunchaku, raised it to strike Fluttershy in the chest. Fluttershy leaped back to dodge it, but a magic force from the nunchaku grazed her chest...like a paper cut. Fluttershy looked down at her wound, apparently astonished that she hadn't been able to completely evade. Suddenly, she noticed a beaker filled with bubbling red liquid beneath her hooves beginning to grow brighter...and brighter...until…

*BOOM*

Fluttershy jumped in the air just in time to avoid the explosion from the solution bomb that Pinkie had created and thrown near her. While she was in the air, Applejack aimed the eye of her shield at her and fired a magic ball of energy that turned into a magic missile as it traveled towards Fluttershy and hit her in the stomach, exploding upon impact. Fluttershy fell to the ground, landing on the sand on her back. Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie all cringed when they saw a huge mass of blood on her chest coming from a huge, serious wound in her chest. Walking towards her, they became nervous, hoping that she was alright. They got their answer when they saw magic fire begin to rise out of Fluttershy's chest wound. When the fire died, Fluttershy's wound was completely healed. She got up, and looking at the others, she began to snicker.

"You've all done well so far…" she told them. "You're evenly matched with this form of me in terms of power. Now all you have to do is prove that you're on equal standing with my other two forms, who shall see if you're on par with me in terms of endurance and wisdom. And only after you do that will I return to you…"

With those words, magic fire surrounded Fluttershy completely, and she vanished. In the near distance, Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie saw a new area appear...a mechanical building that resembled a church began to rise out of the sand. They all went straight to the building where a new form of Fluttershy awaited them…

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie entered the building to find that it resembled a church. Benches of wood painted white with red cushions in them lined the place, but no one was sitting in them. Again, this place was desolate. It seemed that this was a recurring theme. But what did the theme mean…?

There was also an organ-like instrument playing in the church-like place...by itself. Hardly an organ in essence, it was more like an electric piano that played classical tunes automatically like a jukebox. Unlike a jukebox though, this piano didn't play pre-recorded tunes. Right now, the keys on this piano were playing a dubstep rendition of "Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by themselves. Hearing the tune while looking at the unorthodox instrument, the trio of gods became unnerved…

"Didn't…" they said in discomforted tones. "Didn't Tree Hugger play a dubstep version of a classical song at Fluttershy's funeral too? And aren't both songs played at wedding ceremonies? And wedding ceremonies take place in a church typically…"

"Such redundant words," said someone with the voice of a fourteen-year old boy, "good to know I'm not alone. Because I was alone before you guys showed up."

"!" the trio went as they turned their heads to see a boy with blue hair that had white streaks in it dressed in a white robe standing beside them.

"Who are you?" they asked him. "Are you with Fluttershy?"

"Not right now," he replied, "though I was with her just a short while ago. After all, I am one with her."

"Wait a second…" the three said as they remembered what they had been told in the lounge about Fluttershy having to fuse with a boy to become complete. "Are you…?"

"I am Fluttershy…" he responded. "But I am also another...it was through death that I was able to awaken the power of my mother...Discord. This church we are in is where Fluttershy and him wed...and it is also the church where she and King Sombra wed..."

The trio of gods sighed.

"Where are you going with this?" they asked.

"Fluttershy also married Twilight here…" the boy continued. "You are their children, just as I am the child of Fluttershy and Discord."

"...Well," replied the trio, "we got over Luna being our father. But seriously, how many parents do we need?"

"We all have many parents," said the boy, "but right now, Twilight and I need to be the ones to bring you upright…and show you power that you've long neglected..."

The boy snapped his fingers like Discord would snap his claws, and instantaneously, the three ponies found themselves in a space of darkness. Nothing but the essence of pitch-black night surrounded them...yet they could hear a familiar voice in their heads…

 _You can run, you can hide, but you can't escape my love and understanding…especially now that you're inside of me...and the Dark Sky members are on break. I'm going to recreate you all in here once more...soon we will live together in perfect harmony..._

Twilight Sparkle spoke those words...and Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie pulled out their weapons in response.

 _Oh my...you ready weapons upon hearing the voice of your mother? At least I attacked you before you busted those out to use against me, your friend and father._

Fluttershy spoke those words...and Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie growled.

"We're not falling for these stupid fucking "scare and shock" tactics!" they shouted angrily. "So just come out! We've been through too much to be weirded out now! Let's just fight like men...mares...men who are mares or whatever and get this over with!"

"I see you can not be shaken…" the voice of the boy could be heard saying. "Then you have passed the trial of endurance, and shall receive a reward…"

With those words and the sound of another fingersnap, Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie became wrapped by three shadows that came around them. Struggling to get free of the shadows proved to be of no avail, and soon the three were unable to move. Completely consumed by the shadows, the three began to feel something inside...another new power awakening inside each of them...a dark power. The shadows that had consumed them then began to assume a metallic form of transparent liquid, and coated the three in liquid metal armor. Covered in the metal, the three felt yet another new power come awake inside of them...a robotic power. Having become metal armor on the three, the shadows no longer bound the three, and they were able to move freely again. Looking at themselves, they felt strange once again. This power should've been new to them, but they were having deja vu. All three of them felt like they had been in this form for quite some time. Even as demonic aurora and metallic circuits surged throughout their bodies strongly, this power really only felt new because they had never felt it on this level before. Yet it was familiar…

"Hey…" Applejack said. "Do any of y'all remember what Rarity and Discord were sayin' bout us having...essential upgrades so that we could be gods?"

"And that we also had to be evil and neutral to…" Rainbow Dash said in tandem as she realized. "Oh...but wait a minute, wasn't Pinkie already…"

"I already had demon powers," responded Pinkie, "and I learned to control them with Maud's help, but I never had them on this level. Right now, I literally feel like I'm one with a force of pure evil...yet I don't feel an urge to do evil…I only feel a drive to use this dark power for good..."

"And I feel completely neutral…" Dash said. "Unphased by all this chaos, yet feeling passionate about doing everything I can to restore order…"

"I think I get what it all means now…" Applejack said. "Our strive to be good is boundless, even while we're being bound by evil and neutrality...if those can't move us, even while they're close to our hearts at all times...then our hearts are invincible!"

"Wonderful…" the boy could be heard talking again. "You figured yet another important puzzle out."

Another fingersnap was heard, and the darkness surrounding the three ponies was gone. They were back in the church, and in front of them, they saw the boy standing in front of them clapping.

"Congratulations," he told them, "you have proven yourselves equal to Fluttershy in endurance. All that is left now is to prove you are on equal standing with her in wisdom when you face her final form, and with that, you shall receive the greatest of rewards… Farewell. My name is Sky Wanderer, remember it..."

Sky snapped his fingers one last time, and disappeared without a trace. Once he vanished, the electric piano in the room stopped playing and a shadowy circle formed on the space of the floor below it. The piano was sucked below into the circle, and in its place, an insignia of King Sombra's face formed on the circle as dark energy rose up from it to a spot on the ceiling of the church. The said spot of the ceiling disappeared and a hole was opened up. Even as the sun could be seen shining through the hole, the darkness emanating from the circle was not lightened. Applejack, Dash, and Pinkie examined this sight curiously…

"Sombra…" Applejack said as she reminisced over what the boy had told them. "Do you all think…?"

"This circle is a portal to a battle with her and Sombra's son…" Rainbow Dash said.

"When a swirling, dark portal appears in the middle of the floor, common sense usually tells you NOT to go near it!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "But here, we have no choice. No other way out, no other way to proceed…"

The three of them gulped, feeling tension before they gathered their courage and stood headstrong together. They all stepped onto the dark circle, and a light from above beamed them up to a new realm...a realm filled with light…

Looking around, the three ponies, again, saw no bystanders. All they saw was light shining all around them. It was like a counterpart to the place of darkness Fluttershy's second form sent them to…

 _Good job on reaching the final stage…_

This time, when the three heard Fluttershy's voice, they could see right in front of them who was talking. Just ahead of them was Fluttershy's third form, the son of her and Sombra. Unlike Fluttershy's second form, she bore a strong resemblance to Fluttershy. The only striking difference she had in appearance from her was shadowy, magically flowing hair like Sombra's, armor like Sombra's, and a red horn.

"Greetings, I am Soshy..." she told them. "I know what happened in the previous stage, Sky put you in darkness...take that as a hint…"

With those words, Fluttershy's third form began to change shape, transforming into shadow. Applejack began to charge up an energy ball with her shield and fired it at the shadow. Like she guessed, it passed through her and did her no harm. Then the beakers in Pinkie Pie's cauldron began to fill themselves with bubbling liquid, and she threw a red beaker at the shadow, which exploded upon impact. Again, no harm was done to the shadow, but a familiar voice could be heard crying...

 _Eek! Goodness…_

The three knew for sure what the trick was after hearing Fluttershy's voice.

"Like we hadn't already figured it out…" Rainbow Dash remarked as she got out her nunchaku.

Spinning her nunchaks, Rainbow rushed towards the shadow and thrust her nunchaks inside of her, and they wrapped themselves around a familiar pony who was inside the shadow...Fluttershy. Rainbow pulled Fluttershy out of the shadow, and it disappeared, leaving only Fluttershy in her normal form on the ground. Applejack and Pinkie came up to her, and Fluttershy looked up at them all, smiling.

"Incredible…" she said. "Even after being wrapped in the darkness yourselves, you did not succumb to it. You used wisdom rather than violence to save me from the darkness. Thank you guys. You are now equal to me in wisdom as well. You've passed the final test and are as great as I. As a reward, I not only will return home with you as promised, but also, I shall give you the greatest gift I can bestow upon all of you…"

Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie all felt a strange sensation in their chest, and out of each of them, an orange, blue, and pink storybook came out, and floated in the air before dropping beneath each of their hooves. A pen appeared on top of each book as well.

"Now each of you will be able to have a part in this story…" Fluttershy explained. "But the control you'll have over it shall be far beyond the control of any gods, even Rarity and Discord. For I shall give you my blood…"

"...?" the trio went.

Fluttershy turned into a small ball of light and thusly, got out of the hold of the nunchaks. Transforming back to normal, she now had a knife in her right hoof that she held over her left front leg.

"I'm serious…" Fluttershy said. "My blood is what brings out the true power of my story. Spill it on the pages of your books, and it will not ruin them...instead, it will imbue them with unfathomable power. Anything you've written will come true, even if it goes against what Rarity and Discord have written. You may like Rarity and Discord now, but they want Twilight Sparkle to remain in the darkness. They want her to make the final step to becoming a perfect being without error by merging with the Mortal World, converting all to digital data and taking it inside herself. Only through the shedding of my blood can you save Twilight Sparkle."

"..." the trio was genuinely unable to decide what to do.

"We're finally together as friends again…" Fluttershy told them in her sweet tone. "So please, let's retrieve the final missing piece together. Write in a page of your books for Twilight to come out of the darkness, then I'll cut one of my front legs, let the blood drip on the page, and Twilight will be saved. And that's not all. You can also write for Rarity to go back to being who she used to be and for all of Equestria to unite together in friendship and peace remembering none of this so that we can all live happily ever after. Having us all stand together in the light is the best ending we could possibly write, don't you agree?"

 _Final Decision: Is Fluttershy right?_

 _A. Yes_

 _B. No_


	28. The Risen One is Right

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie looked at each other and knelt their heads, believing that Fluttershy was right. This had to be the only way to save Twilight Sparkle. They turned back to Fluttershy and said…

"You're right...we'll do it."

"Thanks…" Fluttershy replied with a creepy smirk. "Only through the blood of The Risen One can you all be saved…"

Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie wrote the following in their books…

 _Twilight Sparkle, cured of her insanity, returned to being a normal alicorn pony with no memory of Fluttershy's death or anything from when she was a servant of Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord. Everypony in Equestria is safe and back to normal now too even if they weren't normal before. Rarity, Discord, and Luna are all back in Equestria safe now too, having no memory of being gods. Their personalities, along with Twilight's and all of Equestria's, are restored. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all return to Equestria as well, not as gods, but as normal ponies with no memory of this either. All of us become at peace as friends forever in a united world._

They each held out their books and showed Fluttershy what they had written, and reading it, she became impressed.

"Even as the most powerful gods in all the universe," said Fluttershy, "you choose to humble yourselves to the level of mortals, just as Twilight and I did…"

It was then that Fluttershy took the knife to her left front leg and cut it. She then held her bleeding leg over each book, getting drops of blood on each page her friends had written this story's ending on…

Back in The Risen One's home, Rarity and Discord were surprised when they felt a light wash over them.

"So…" Discord said. "She chose this path..."

"Fluttershy has been defeated…" Rarity answered. "She staged her defeat so that she could be relieved of her duties as the ruler of this world and save it at the same time. But in doing so, she has betrayed the ruler of the universe…"

Discord remained silent for some time before saying…

"Rarity…"

"Discord…" Rarity responded. "I'm sorry I had to conceal my true identity from you, but when our memories are restored, I'll be able to tell you the full truth…"

And with that, Rarity and Discord vanished in a flash of light. Luna, on the other hand was still outside on Fluttershy's porch, drinking the cocktails on the tray she had been holding. She had already drunk five big glasses and still wanted to drink more. Sitting on a lawn chair with an unnerved look on her face, she looked up towards the sky and said…

"I have a problem...PLEASE GIVE ME THE ANSWER!"

With that, Luna vanished in a flash of light as well, and was teleported back to Equestria, where she found herself on the street.

"W-what...how did I get here?" she asked. "The last thing I remember...holy shit, I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING! ...Except..."

Prince...Princess Luna could only remember that she was Princess Luna...that was all. She knew who she was...but could not remember why she was who she was. And frighteningly enough, the only thought that gave her comforting regarding this predicament...was that everypony in Equestria shared her frustration. No one knew why they were who they were…

How was this so? Fluttershy had known. Since this world started as a copy of Equestria, with all the Equestrians being made from human beings who had lost their memories, no one knew why they were ponies. This was a conflict they had had since they were first transformed, and now, it is a conflict that they would have forever. Fluttershy had known that this would be the price for her happy ending, for this was her plan all along.

Now back in Equestria too, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all greeted Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. Blissfully unaware of everything that had gone on from Fluttershy's death to her defeat, this day was just a normal day to them. Though Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie knew not of the source of their identity confusion, it would simply become just another friendship problem. A friendship problem that three heroes had missed the chance to solve…

However, the fact still remained that Fluttershy deliberately sacrificed that chance, that golden opportunity. Everything Rarity and Discord had written, every trial Twilight and her friends had gone through, was now all for naught. Nothing more than what Rarity and Discord would've called...filler. The Dark Sky Awakening Project had failed. Even the prophecy of the awakening of the stars would go unfulfilled now…

And yet, Fluttershy, her friends, and all of Equestria are happy now. Fluttershy has come a long way since she was that pony crying by a gravestone. If not for her, this whole world could not have been saved…

...But what about the universe?

 _A short time later in the future, in a galaxy close to Equestria…_

A large star, shining bright, loomed ominously in space…

"The prophecy has not come true…" a voice inside the star could be heard saying. "Fluttershy has betrayed us and Rarity has been put out of commission...meaning I am the only one of The Eternal Three left. It is my duty now...to save this universe from death…"

 _THE END_


	29. The Risen One is Wrong

"No Fluttershy…" Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie replied. "That way of bringing all to the light will not work."

Fluttershy got a look of astonishment and confusion on her face in response to those words.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "All you have to do is write it down in your books and I'll put my blood on it. It'll come true."

"That's not the problem." they replied. "The problem...is that it goes against the point of having the problem we've had this entire thing!"

"Oh...oh dear…" Fluttershy said with a tone of guilt in her voice. "Does this have...something to do with me?"

"No…" the three friends answered. "It has EVERYTHING to do with you! Just think for a moment, go over what you've done in your mind! YOU directed Rarity and Discord to do this! They wrote for all this to happen because you told them to! It's not their fault Twilight is in darkness, it's yours! Everything that's happened is because of you!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Fluttershy apologized. "I-I didn't want to do this, but…"

Fluttershy fell silent after that. She realized the big problem now that she had overlooked…

"Do you understand now?" Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie asked her. "We got over it all...we got over the fact that our friend did all this...because we believed that everything she did was for a good reason...we had faith in you, just as we had faith in Twilight. You didn't want to do this, but...what? What's the reason? Why did we go through all these trials and tribulations just so we could forget about them and live happily ever after? If you really wanted everyone to be brought to the light, why didn't you bring them to the light? Why would you kill yourself in a story that barely makes any sense just so that we could do your work for you?!"

"..." Fluttershy went, as she just stared at the three ponies, having nothing to say.

"Just please…" the three pleaded. "Tell us why."

"..." Fluttershy went again, but this time, after a period of silence, she smiled at them.

"You're amazing…" she complimented them as her smile grew wider. "All of you…"

"Hmm?" the three ponies responded.

"We can end this the way I wanted it to end now…" she told them. "I was testing you. You passed with flying colors…"

"...Really?" the three ponies replied, confused.

"In order for you to understand what I'm talking about," said Fluttershy, "we must start from the beginning. This whole story is something that I came up with as a way to make this entire world live again. I asked Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord to search your world for four souls who would be willing to not only die to themselves so that my friends could live again...but also so that the whole world could do the same. This journey was not meant to just build your characters...it was meant to build the characters of my friends who live in you, as well as the characters of everypony in this world. That is part of the purpose of the Dark Sky Awakening Project."

The three ponies were stunned.

"We get your friends…" they responded. "But...what do you mean by everypony in the world?"

"It was after my death that the Goddess of Death and the God of War came into this world." Fluttershy explained. "They reminded everypony of chaos, and how easily their transient lives could end. I'm sure you don't really believe that after that, all the ponies in Equestria would be opposed to becoming immortal beings, their lives preserved forever by Twilight turning them into digital data, right?"

"So that's what that was all about…" the three ponies said, glaring at Fluttershy. "There was more to it than what Rarity and Discord let on…"

"Exactly." Fluttershy replied. "In this ending, I will get all to come to eternal life of their own volition."

"But they'll come to it out of fear!" the three exclaimed. "Not to mention that Twilight is still misguided in her methods! There's no way we can let it end this way!"

"Again," responded Fluttershy, "exactly."

"...Beg your pardon?" the three said.

"I'm sure you also don't really believe that we could end this…" Fluttershy said as she snapped her hooftips. "...without a last-minute climax, hmm?"

With that, the three ponies looked around and noticed that the light in this realm was beginning to fade, for Fluttershy was undoing the spell that made the realm appear.

"Woah-WOAH!" they cried as it all soon vanished entirely, and along with Fluttershy, they all began to fall down towards the church, which also disappeared completely along with the beach. Their fall ended when they landed on the couch in The Risen One's home, which Fluttershy teleported them too.

 _Good ol' Fluttershy, trying to look cool with dramatic landings._

"Oh…" the three grunted on the couch, feeling woozy from that sudden drop even in their godliness. "Please at least tell us beforehand the next time you do that…"

Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord, who were in the dining room tending to a drunken Prince Luna who had had one too many cocktails, noticed them.

"Welcome back!" Rarity greeted Fluttershy and the others as they got up off the couch, uninjured by the fall thanks to a combination of landing on the soft cushions of the couch and their godlike endurance.

"So," said Discord, "how did the fight go? Did you all have a good time beating the snot-smeared confetti out of each other?"

"I feel like I'm about to hurl blood-smeared confetti…" a sick Luna said.

"Trust me," said Fluttershy, "the only confetti we're going to be spewing by the time this is over is the kind that comes from us loving and hugging the shit out of each other."

"Sap-smeared confetti?" Pinkie Pie responded. "No offense, but you guys need to get better taste in confetti. I don't mean to brag, but the confetti that comes from my party cannon is pretty good stuff…"

"Okay, that's enough about confetti, sugarcube…" Applejack intervened. "It's getting old."

"Besides," said Rainbow Dash, "you know what they say. The party doesn't stop until it's time for confetti, and this party isn't even over yet. We got to bring all those ponies back in our world to eternal life the right way!"

"Not just that," chimed in Fluttershy, "we also need to unite the Mortal World with the Immortal World and fulfill the prophecy of the dark sky. We'll start by getting back to the Mortal World. I'll need not just you three, but all of you guys to come with me."

"Oh…" Luna groaned. "Even me?"

"Believe me," said Fluttershy, "I directed this story to be set up so that everypony would have a key part to play somewhere, even those who didn't seem too important at first. Isn't that right, Rarity and Discord?"

"Oh, it's absolutely right." Rarity replied.

"Just take a guess at who's back in the Mortal World playing his key part right now, ha ha…" Discord said slyly.

Back in the Mortal World…

It was a dark night. The dark sky was ominously both without a moon and stars. An enormous crowd containing thousands of ponies from all across Equestria were gathered around Starcatch. The first phase of Twilight's plan was already complete. The demons and robots from earlier had sought out to merge with everypony, and now everypony in Equestria was either a demon or a robot. Twilight had written in her storybook pre-emptively for that to happen, just as she had written for the crowd to come to where Starcatch was to listen to Water Rinse, the pony whom the Dark Sky members had met back at Jelly Rockets, make a speech on a large stage at a podium to rally support for the digital data conversion of the world. This is how his speech was going…

"It is today that I stand here not for you all to revere me as a saint, but merely as one offering himself as a vessel for the voice of the almighty god, Twilight Sparkle, who abides within this glorious machine that will allow us eternal life. The Risen One, who promised to make us immortal through the act of fusing us with demons and robots, has unfortunately betrayed us, allowing the rulers of death and war to enter our land. And although she has made us one with the demonic and the mechanical, we are only safe from death by age, we are not yet immortal. To become immortal, we must become indestructible as well as undecaying."

"How do we do THAT?!" a Southern pony declared, talking in a thick, British accent.

"Twilight Sparkle has shown us how…" Water Rinse replied with a slick grin on his face. "She will transform us into digital data that can not be corrupted or deleted, and then store us inside her databanks, preserving us forever. She shall keep us safe inside her, her servers highly run unto after the end of time. The lives that we will live inside her shall be the same as the ones we live now...only virtual."

With those words being spoken, much of the crowd became surprised and started to hesitate. Ponies began talking amongst themselves, expressing their feelings of uncertainty.

"Please do not be alarmed, ponies of Equestria." Water pleaded. "I understand your doubt, as does Twilight, the one who speaks through me. Before I allowed myself to become one with Twilight, I was also a creature of doubt, having faith in none, not even myself. But it was through an act of Twilight that I found self-confidence and hope for ponymanity. I used to only be a supporter of gender equality, but I realize now that I must also be a supporter...of pony equality. I must open myself to becoming one with all, even those who live lives that absolutely disagree with my ideals. For if I refuse them...I refuse God. And right now, Twilight Sparkle is God. For she is the one who is opening up the path to life eternal. We must all accept her...OR ONLY DEATH AWAITS US!"

Water declared those words loudly, but no one in the crowd was moved. Many of them were either unable to decide how to react...or simply frightened.

"Why…" Water said.

"WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING?!" Water bellowed, Twilight Sparkle's voice mixing with his. "WHY DO YOU NOT WISH TO COME TO GOD?!"

"Because you are not God…" Ninja Time God Rarity said, materializing beside Water Rinse's right side.

"You are just a guy being used by a mare who wanted to be God." Fantasy God Discord said, materializing beside Water Rinse's left side.

"Please Water Rinse…" Fluttershy pleaded nicely as she materialized behind Water Rinse. "...would you kindly snap out of it? I mean, I hope it's not too much trouble, but it is important that you come back to your senses. Please understand."

Water turned around to face Fluttershy and his eyes turned red.

"YOU!" he shouted in Twilight's voice. "YOU DARE TO INTERFERE WITH MY PLAN?!"

In response to that, Fluttershy pulled out a familiar sword. It was Myra Michaels' saber, and with its cross-shaped hilt glowing brilliantly, Fluttershy stabbed Water in the stomach with it, subduing Twilight's spirit that had possessed him.

"I'm sorry," replied Fluttershy, "but yes."

"UH...UGH!" Twilight groaned from inside Water. "I'm...losing control…losing consciousness..."

With that, Water's eyes went back to normal and he regained full control of his actions.

"Uh…oh..." he grunted. "Great Scott, being a vessel for Twilight Sparkle is not what it's cracked up to be. I was on my way home to rendezvous with my good sister when she suddenly appeared before me as a spirit of zeroes and ones. She told me that she had a plan to make all of Equestria immortal and as one. Of course, I didn't believe her until she demonstrated her powers with a strange book she carried…"

"So you didn't know about the whole digital data conversion thing until she possessed you?" Rarity said.

"Oh, heavens no." Water replied. "I would never agree to be a spokesman for that. I've never cared for virtual reality in the first place, and then to make it our entire lives?! Do not shit me. All I agreed to do was help gather support for world unity before she abruptly took up abode inside me. I just wish for the Immortal World and this one to be as one, for all of us to be together in harmony..."

"A wish that shall be granted…" Discord assured him. "...so long as you're willing to help us. You wouldn't mind if I wrote for you to become knowledgeable of everything that's happened so far and then to combine your acquired knowledge with what you learned from the Dark Sky members all to make a speech that will surely bring our worlds together?"

"...No way." Water replied, speaking differently than usual. "Go for it...man."

And so, Discord wrote...and Water became more driven towards his goal than ever. Back at his podium, he began to make a new speech…

"Ponies of Equestria," he spoke, "you have my sincerest apologies for my previous speech. Had you listened to me, you would have strayed off the path of light and become entombed in darkness forever. And while I was possessed, I am ultimately without excuse. For it does not change the fact that my previous speech was riddled with misinformation that could have irreparably damaged you all. We are not indestructible _or_ undecaying...The Risen One wanted our new robot and demon forms to be like this...and yet, The Risen One has not betrayed us...and the fact that we are _not_ fully immortal right now is proof of that."

Many of the ponies in the crowd began talking to each other, pondering what Water just said in confusion.

"It's true…" Water said. "The Risen One is right here, right now in her true form...Fluttershy. I shall allow her to speak now, because I believe she wants this to come directly from her..."

Water allowed Fluttershy to stand at the podium in his place and the ponies in the crowd bowed to her in reverence.

"Please everyone," requested Fluttershy, "do not bow to me. I do not deserve your admiration. Though I have remained loyal to you in my promise to bring you all eternal life, I have done so at all costs. That may not sound bad until you know that that includes lying to you, toying with your emotions, and...murder."

Many ponies in the crowd gasped.

"I staged my own death…" Fluttershy confessed while getting teary-eyed. "I hired someone from another world to kill me...I'm no better than Twilight. I'm no closer to being God than her…"

The crowd was left speechless.

"However…" Fluttershy continued. "My loyalty towards my promise...shall still not waiver. My will to keep it...will live on forever inside three heroic souls who had the courage to stand up to me, even though I am the ruler of this world…"

With that, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, materialized on the stage...and they gave a bow to the crowd in reverence.

"These three…" Fluttershy said, becoming teary-eyed with tears of joy. "They are the ones who will bring you...and all of this world...to eternal life...and eternal light…"

 _THE END_

End of Fluttershy's Ending (Good)

"So, that's the true end of the story!" Boss exclaimed. "What are you guys' overall thoughts on it?"

It was then that Boss finally revealed her true form...the main CPU of Starcatch. That was Twilight Sparkle's true form. The Dark Sky members had been inside here, sitting around the CPU all along, the forms of them being seen anywhere else being digital data copies. Boss was met with blank stares from all of the Dark Sky members, including Derpy…

"...Wow Boss, I'm not even sure where to start…" Dumb-bell began. "I guess that I'll just kick things off by saying that I feel I've been too nice on this story my whole time reviewing it. I really wanted to believe it was just okay or at least decent, but...the more I look at it, the more I realize it's really not. To quote Fluttershy, "It's awful, just awful.". Though I would say that it's not irredeemable, it's just...way too flawed for me to forgive. The storytelling, character development, and humor were all over the place, and that cop-out ending...was just the final nail in the coffin."

"...A mess." Hoops said. "This story...is a mess. It's bumbling, terribly paced sloppiness, nothing memorable or meaningful happened that was actually consistent. I like what you _tried_ to do, but you got way in over your head by trying to throw a bunch of overblown jokes in a story that was serious in tone at the price of jumbling a bunch of half-baked plotlines that never really took off, and then to add insult to injury, try to redeem yourself in the end with tired self-aware gags and an oversimplified message that you were just too fucking lazy to expand on. Like G.R.D. said, it tried so hard and failed so hard. And like Dumb-bell, I tried to be nice, but...I can't be nice anymore. That ending SUCKED."

"..." Score took a pause to collect himself…

"..." ...and then silently gave his final thoughts.

"...Do you know what the weirdest and yet, also funniest thing is?" Ghost Rainbow Dash said.

"...THIS STORY SUCKS ECTO-SLIME! ...But I don't feel inclined to hate it or even write a huge critical essay on how flawed it is. Maybe it's just me growing weary after driving in the obvious chapter after chapter, maybe it's just complacency after seeing Dumb-bell and Hoops finally show some vaginas and actually give an honest critique on a crappy story that they were clearly not truly enjoying and were just pretending to be alright with as to not upset you.

Or maybe…

Maybe it's just that I am so disappointed by that beyond lazy, beyond underwhelming, piece of shit ending that lived up to NONE of the hype...I am literally at a loss for words. The "characters who did not seem too important" were promised to all have a key part somewhere and _all of them either did not appear or did nothing of any importance in this ending_. I mean, I understand characters like Noava and Arc because at least no one really cared about them and they got to do something in at least one ending. But what about Myra and Edward? What about Prince Luna? For Christ's sake, at least have her four souls make a cameo! I understand if this was just one of the other endings, but this was supposed to be the grand finale, the biggest and most epic ending that wraps everything up, and it just did the bare minimum. The story is really just droning mediocrity, nothing atrocious when you compare it to that ending. I...I've actually lost some hope in you as a writer thanks to that ending. That is how shittastic that ending was. Just a massive "Fuck you.". Go to hell."

"...I didn't think the ending was that bad…" Derpy expressed her opinion in a melancholic tone rather than a joyful one this time. "...but I thought it could've been a lot better. I didn't love it."

Boss smirked upon hearing the opinions of the immensely disappointed Dark Sky members and said…

"Glad you all DIDN'T love it. Because that wasn't the true ending. I lied just because I wanted to see your reactions."

The Dark Sky members just stared at Boss blankly before telling her with smirks of their own…

"Glad you didn't tell us the truth. Because now we know how much we truly care about how this story ends. If the ending we're given sucks...we'll make one that rocks!"

And with that, the Dark Sky members united together to form a holy dragon and they busted through the wall that had confined them wide open with the brute strength of a rising dragon punch. It turned out to be one of the walls of Starcatch, where everypony from the ending was still outside of. The crowd stood back in shock as the holy dragon that stood before them transformed back into the Dark Sky members. Rarity, Discord, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Water Rinse, and Fluttershy looked upon the members with interest.

"Greetings, good chaps." Water said, half-confounded and half-joking. "Have you been enjoying bringing down the machine?"

"...Yeah." Dumb-bell replied with a pause. "Yeah, we have."

"But more importantly," said Hoops, "we're going to enjoy bringing down the man…"

"..." Score spoke of both the positive and negative impacts the man was having on society silently.

The crowd was moved by Score's speech. The Dark Sky members then proceeded to get up on stage.

"Yeah…" Ghost Rainbow Dash said. "Don't get us wrong, we want this world to be brought to the light as much as all of you...but let me ask you something...are we really going to be satisfied with it all ending like this? Just... _the world_ being awesome forever and that being it? Why don't we go deeper than that? Why don't we set new goals for ourselves? Why don't we make our next goal...to make _the universe_ awesome forever?"

The crowd was in awe. Rarity, Discord, and Fluttershy began to snicker to each other.

"Yeah!" Derpy exclaimed. "And why don't we start by making another world stellar eternal?! Like the world that Myra Michaels came from!"

The crowd remained silent in confusion.

"Oopsie…" Rarity said. "Forgot they don't know who Myra is...or Edward Miles for that matter...or fuck, anything about the world they came from. Hold on. Uh, Discord…"

 _PLEASE STAND BY_

"I was really tired when I wrote this part," explained Discord, "I just forgot to proofread. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," said Myra Michaels/Maud Pie in a comforting voice, "we've all been there."

"You know what they say," said Edward Miles, "you're not you when you're tired."

"Way to plagiarize a Snickers commercial!" a still drunk Prince Luna shouted. "This is why I'm more into Reese's these days!"

"Okay, what the hell?" the neurotic Princess Celestia from G.R.D.'s video game said.

 _Ah ha ha, okay, back to the story…_

Rarity spoke those words. She had had Discord write for Myra, Edward, and Luna to appear on the stage. She had also had him write for Luna to no longer be drunk. Right now, Myra/Maud and Edward were the ones on the podium. Myra was doing the talking while Edward was giving visual examples with his portal-making power.

"So as you can see…" Myra said as she pointed to Edward's portal, which showed her and his world to be a place of much death and disease. "Our world, the human world, has serious problems. It would be nice of you guys to come to our world and help us make it better."

It was then that the crowd turned to Fluttershy, all wondering the same thing…

"I'll do what I can to aid anyone who wants to go there and help…" Fluttershy told them. "But I won't just magically make it better. If I do that, that will defeat the entire purpose. I can't be selfish and just make it my story to help them...I want it to be all of your stories."

It was with that that many in the crowd became touched, and soon, ecstatic about the thought of helping Myra and Edward fix their world. Another whose heart had been warmed by this was Prince Luna. She walked over to Myra and Edward.

"Can I…" she started to ask. "Can I please come to help you? I realize that this world needs not a goddess of death right now. But in your world, I can aid you by not bringing death, but maintaining it so that none may have to constantly fear it."

"Of course you can…" Edward replied. "I could even get you a job at Phoenext Co.. Nick Ron and Dawn Dedey would love to have someone like you around, trust me…"

It was then that Myra eyed her saber, still in Water's body subduing Twilight's spirit. Walking over to Water, she said this while looking down towards her sword…

"So this is it...only one loose end left to tie before it ends…"

She then looked at Water, who looked back at her, knowing what she was going to do from the new knowledge he was written to have.

"Hold still…" Myra said as she grabbed the hilt of the blade and pulled it out. Upon doing so, the digital copy of the spirit of Twilight Sparkle left Water's body calmly and quietly. Twilight's spirit then began to hover in the air, getting the attention of all, especially Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie.

"Twilight!" Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie shouted.

In response, Twilight's spirit turned to them.

"My friends…" she said with a warm smile. "You do not know how happy I am that my plan has failed...I knew from the start it would not work. I am the God of Light and the God of Darkness, and so I knew that your light would prevail over my darkness. I'm glad to see you three be the heroes."

Now the three understood. Twilight had only been in the darkness to be a magnifier for their light. They began to cry some tears of joy.

"Twilight…" Applejack said. "We've told you this before…"

"As friends," said Rainbow Dash, "we share our experiences together. You're a hero too."

"We'll be friends forever…" Pinkie Pie said. "...Now let's unite together."

It was then that not just Twilight and her friends, but everyone in Equestria, including Princess Celestia, Prince Luna's four souls, and even Noava and Arc, who had been written to come to this world, felt a strange aura exuding from them. All over, they looked at their bodies and saw the aura. It felt like the will of not just their own spirits, but the will of the spirits of the ones they had embodied reacting. Their wills had become one, and in the form of their aura, went up to the sky. In the sky, both the moon and the stars began to come out, shining more brightly than ever before. In this new light, all the ponies saw the illusion the sky had cast on them be rolled back, revealing a world that had been above them that entire time...the Immortal World. Looking up at the world, ponies everywhere found it to be beautiful and smiled happily.

"Our worlds were always together…" Fluttershy said finally. "The gap was always bridged. The bond between the living and those who have passed shall last forever, allowing us to carry on their wills forever…this is how we shall live forever...not because of what I've done, but because of who you all really are..."

 _The true ending never ends..._


End file.
